Riders of the Mesa
by ErzengelDesLichtes
Summary: In the Mediterranean, a trader visits an established city of dragon riders, bringing evidence of a new village which recently discovered dragon training. The city seeks to make contact with these new riders and their young dragon master, a girl named Hiccup. AU, Female Hiccup (only).
1. Prologue - Mesa del Cadre

**Prologue**

 **Mesa del Cadre**

Cutting into a hill nestled between a bay and the sea stood a quarry overrun by dragons. Six big, flat Monstrous Nightmares lazed near the cliffside of the bowl, their backs burning a hot, blue flame. Dozens of Deadly Nadders, tall and bird-like, stalked around them like attendants. A flight of small, fat Gronckles buzzed overhead.

The Gronckles stopped and hovered low over the quarry. A few minutes later, they rose and flew back across the bay, toward a city called Mesa del Cadre.

Watching from atop the quarry's hill stood the man who had domain over the quarry, the surrounding workman district, and the refinery across the bay. Lord Kiefer wasn't worried about the Gronckles. They were doing their job admirably; each flight of four carried a bucket full of ore bound for the refinery. They were well trained.

Another flight came in with an empty bucket. They lowered it into the quarry where burlap clad, human workers waved and pointed, directing the boulder-like dragons to adjust until they slid it into its cradle.

Once the lines went slack, Nadder-drawn carts pulled up and tilted over, dumping their contents inside. They then returned to the floor and more Nadders with steel shovels strapped to their jaws filled them back up with ore.

The heart of the operation was the Monstrous Nightmares. Their fires were hotter than anything that could be produced by wood or coal; the boilers bolted around their wide, flat torsos churned with steam that gave muscle to drills and hammers used by armored workers to break apart the mountainside.

"The line seems to be running well," he said to the foreman astride a Deadly Nadder beside him. He reached into the satchel strapped to his own dragon's back and pulled out a notebook and pencil. He sketched the line of the mountain-side and compared it to last month's with a flip of a page, checking just how much it had receded.

"Thank you, sir," the foreman said. "Those new hires have integrated with the herd quite well. I expect we'll meet our quota by Thursday."

"Thursday is good." He flipped back and glanced over his notes. Five humans and three Gronckles were hired two weeks ago. He hadn't expected them to be ready so soon. He squinted at the foreman. "There weren't any problems?"

"Well, there's always problems with new recruits." The foreman scratched his head and his Nadder shifted beneath him. "But they were smoothed over."

"Good, good." Kiefer put a line next to the note and moved on to the next item. "How's the health of the workers?"

The foreman shrugged "We've had a couple injuries. Some illness. Nothing serious." He ticked off on his fingers. "Three men were out sick this week, and a couple Nadders came down with something a couple days ago. The dracinarian gave them something and they were ready to work this morning."

"And what about the dragon that was caught in last week's rockslide?" He gave the foreman a pointed look. He had received a report on the incident, of course. Three Deadly Nadders had been in the path, but only one was injured.

"He's still out. The dracinarian said the bone's mended, but we're giving him another week to recuperate. He should be ready by Monday."

"As I've heard, two others escaped the slide. Is that correct?"

The foreman nodded. "One even pulled a human worker out of the way. Thankfully Theo was the only human in the area, and we commended Manfried."

"He should be commended." Kiefer nodded, but then returned to his interrogative stare. "But if two were aware enough to get out of the way, why wasn't the injured one?"

The Nadder's saddle squelched as the foreman shifted uncomfortably. "I would suppose he was tired. Theo was on his way to relieve him."

"Ah, and now we've reached my concern." Kiefer closed his notebook and slipped it back into his dragon's satchel. Her dark wings fluttered and she turned her head to fix her golden eyes on him. He could tell she was looking forward to getting back into the sky. He pet her shoulder to reassure her that they were almost finished. He looked back at the foreman. "See to it that both human and dragon get enough rest. As I've told you, giving the workers breaks — "

" — is cheaper than letting them break, yes sir."

"I really must stress this. I don't like seeing any worker injured, and neither does the Queen. She's been talking about increasing the injury fees."

Kiefer pulled himself up into the saddle of his dragon — the most prestigious breed: a sleek, obsidian Night Fury. She unfurled her wings and let the breeze catch and caress the delicate skin. Almost in sympathy, the Nadder hopped anxiously from leg to leg and flapped his wings, but the foreman pressed it to hold.

"I understand sir."

"Lord Kiefer!"

A rush of wind and wings assaulted them as another Night Fury flared to a stop and landed lightly beside them. Upon his back rode a strong looking woman displaying a badge of leaf covered footprints on her chest — the crest of the Scout Platoon — and a sergeant's pip on her shoulder. She popped off her riding mask and looked at the lord of the land.

He tilted his head to acknowledge her. "What is it, sergeant?"

"My scouts have spotted the commodities trader you asked me to keep an eye out for. He's about two days out, west-by-northwest. We've already dispatched escorts."

"Ah! Very good. Thank you, sergeant." He nodded his dismissal, and with a kick and a beat of wings she and her Night Fury were off again, swinging inland and away from the Mesa. He turned back to the foreman. "Heinrich should have those drill bits you asked for."

"I hope so," the foreman said in a weighty voice. "We only have two spares left. Assuming regular wear, that should last us a month, but I'd be a lot more comfortable with at least a dozen, or a few more."

"Then you shall have it." Kiefer smiled at him. "I ordered twenty."

He pat his Night Fury's neck. "What do you say, Claudia? Shall we check on Heinrich?"

The dragon snorted an affirmative and Kiefer pulled his riding gear out of a satchel on her back. It took but a moment to put on the helmet and mask, and with a nudge into her side Claudia vaulted into the air.

It took just shy of two hours to find the trader, already flanked by a pair of Nadders gliding along on the thermals. They were just there to deter piracy, though that hadn't been a problem for as long as Kiefer could remember. Still, vigilance was the byword in the Mesa.

With a nudge of his toe, Claudia banked around and dipped down to deck level beside the large, three-sailed hulk. It kept a good clip, carried along by the wind filling its square sails, fast enough for Claudia to glide along beside on the tail wind. There were a few men on deck, but he didn't see the vessel's master. He popped the face mask off his helmet and squinted against the wind.

"Ahoy there Heinrich!" He cupped his hands and called louder, "AHOY!"

A door flung open from the cabin at the stern of the ship. A rather portly man clad in silks and gaudy trinkets rushed out. Heinrich shielded his eyes with a many-ringed hand and searched the sky before he found Kiefer.

"Ahoy!" Heinrich waved enthusiastically, grinning at the new arrival. "Ahoy there, Lord!"

Claudia drifted closer and Kiefer shouted over the wind, "Permission to come aboard?"

"Of course, of course!" The trader waved him over. "You're my best customer, you're always welcome!"

Another nudge and a pull, and Claudia swung over the ship. He stroked her scaly shoulder and said, "I'll be just a minute."

After she cooed, he swung his leg off her back and dropped to the deck with a jarring thud. Claudia flared and beat her wings to fall back and join the Nadders. Heinrich rushed up to his guest.

"Lord Kiefer!" He grinned and shook his hand vigorously. "So good to see you. Before you ask, hmm, I have those Pyree Drill Bits you ordered — I took the liberty of purchasing two dozen, in case you needed spares — and, of course, several bolts of the Oriental silks I told you about! You can peruse my other merchandise if you wish — first pick, first pick!"

Heinrich nudged him excitedly and pointed to several bins and crates. He was a commodities trader; he had marbles, cloths, woods, and minerals from elsewhere in the empire, goods that couldn't be found near the Mesa. On the other hand, his selection of items for personal use — clothes, jewelry, curios — was limited. Kiefer browsed, but there wasn't anything particularly interesting.

"Oh, but I have something I must show you!"

Heinrich bobbed on his heels while Kiefer put down an elegant silver necklace. He disappeared into the cabin again and when he returned he grinned widely. He held up another necklace.

"I think you'll appreciate this."

Kiefer took it and studied it. It was simple twine, with three dragon teeth knotted in place. The middle tooth was twice as long as the other two — it was a back tooth of a Monstrous Nightmare. The other pair came from a Gronckle or Gronckles. Common dragons, common teeth, common materials.

But there was something about the teeth that caught his attention: they were rotten. Not just a little rotten, but very rotten. The Nightmare's tooth had a single cavity so large and deep that it reached the core, while the Gronckle teeth had many smaller, ugly pits. If the maker had killed a dragon and used its teeth for a necklace, these weren't the teeth they would have chosen. He could only come to one conclusion, and his chest lifted with excitement at the thought. He met Heinrich's eye.

"New dragon trainers?"

The trader's grin grew, and Kiefer knew he was right. These teeth must have been taken from live dragons to relieve pain — a common procedure among trainers — and then reused in this necklace.

New riders! He had to bring this to the Queen. But he suppressed his grin. Heinrich knew how important this was, too. That meant that this simple necklace was going to cost as much as an entire bin of curios. But to bring it in, to show the Queen!

He gripped the necklace tightly.

"What do you know about them?"

"Ah, yes — hmm — I got that necklace from a trader by the name of Johan, cost quite a bit if I do say so, but I managed to finagle a map out of him. It's quite far to the north, if you're interested.

"A little place called Berk."


	2. Chapter 1 - Welcome to Berk

**Chapter 1**

 **Welcome to Berk**

Why is it always about boys?

That's what Hiccup wanted to know; it was all her dad wanted to talk about these days. No matter where the conversation started, he'd eventually start wondering if anyone had caught her eye. Eventually he realized no one on the island interested her, and so he started listing foreign men.

Today it was Gregor, the heir of Forlorn Point and son of Chief Sorge. But she had never even met him! Even after attending a political visit to Forlorn Point with her dad — an entire, week long visit! — she had never seen the man. He was 'out hunting' the entire time. Besides, he was at least a decade older than her. But that didn't stop her dad from suggesting sending an invitation to the Bork Week Festival.

So, to escape the heated house, she made up a need to prepare for the festival and took to the cool skies astride her warm, jet marble Night Fury. She drowned out those thoughts with the familiar scent of warm scales and faint, Night Fury musk — she forgot about her father, about men, about everything. It was just her and Toothless.

Her dragon's shoulder twitched back and, without thought, she shifted the pedal under her foot, loosening the line and closing the sail of his prosthetic ever so slightly. It had only taken the span of a heartbeat and within a few more there was another twitch; his other shoulder forward, and she twisted the pedal under her own prosthetic; his fin banked just a bit. Every twitch, every move, was automatic and natural.

She leaned forward, pressing her chest against his shoulders. He bent into a dive at her request, and the expanse of blue in front of her was replaced by a sea of green. The wind bit her face and whipped her hair. The shrill scream of a Night Fury split the sky like thunder and warned all below that a Night Fury is coming.

They dove further and further, faster and faster. She squinted against the gale, tears beading at the corners of her eyes. Closer and closer, the pointed treetops grew from splinters, to pencils, to axe handles, but she held him on course. Just a little more.

She waited until the last possible moment — a touch more — and pulled. She twisted the pedals; his wings splayed and caught the wind. She was thrown into his back and the wide field of green needles sank into a carpet below her. It had been close, almost too close.

A tree appeared before them, just a bit taller than the rest. She shifted her weight to the side, twisted the pedals, and Toothless banked around the tree. Another one, taller than the last, was now in the way. She shifted to the other side, and he banked back. There was a thrash of leaves as his wing clipped the treetop. Too close!

But she didn't pull up. She had to be close. She had a stunt for the festival, and there was no margin for error. She and her dragon had to be perfect. They were perfect. He was all she needed. She didn't need some boy. She just needed Toothless.

Another tree. She fixated on it, her eyes narrowed. It was the right height. Not as tall as the last, but taller than the first. It was just high enough off the surrounding trees, a little higher than a raid torch would be over the surrounding buildings.

She pushed Toothless to keep a straight course, and he kept straight; this wasn't the first time they'd done this. She crouched down into the saddle, he beat his wings to go faster.

 _Closer_ —

A little twist, a bit of a turn, and they were lined up with the trunk. If they continued on like this they'd collide headlong.

 _Just a bit more —_

If she failed the stunt she'd be thrown off for sure, safety harness or no. The tree loomed, from a handle it became an axle. She'd show her dad that being a Dragon Master was all she needed. She'd show Gregor, if he came. The tree was almost on top of her. She grit her teeth and waited a second more.

— _NOW!_

She threw her weight hard to the side and pulled on the saddle. The pedals squeaked in protest as she pushed them to their limits. Toothless rolled completely over — he was clear of the tree — she reached overhead, stretching — she grasped for the needles —

THWACK!

A flash of pain erupted in her arm. "AHH!" She gasped and her wrist shot to her chest, cradled by her other hand. Toothless finished the roll and returned upright. Tears stung at her eyes and her wrist throbbed with heat. "Ow, ow, ow, ow."

Toothless looked over his shoulder, his cat-like, gold-green eyes flicking between her face and her arm. He cooed in concern.

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm okay, bud."

It wasn't entirely a lie. The pain had already started to subside and she could flex her fingers. She figured that meant it wasn't broken. But it still throbbed.

She looked around. The tree tops were now far below and Toothless was gliding on the wind. Too high and too slow to try the trick again; they'd have to start over. So she did. She took him high again, and repeated the dive. She chose another tree, pushed him into a roll, and —

— missed the tree entirely.

She let out a frustrated grunt. It's not like she hadn't done the trick before! She remembered the sticky needles poking into her palm and the elation in her heart the first time she managed it. She'd done it a dozen times since. Why was she having trouble now?

"Okay, okay." She drew in a long breath, letting the chilly air bite at her lungs. She held it, closed her eyes, and shook out her hands. The pain had subsided. She let the breath out. "One more try, bud."

Once again they dove, falling faster and faster as the Fury scream grew louder in her ears. She pulled up at the last second — she could swear she heard needles snapping as they rushed by. They banked around the one tree that was too small, then back around the one that was too big.

There it was — the perfect tree. She saw it now as the raid torch, with a basket resting on top. It was that basket she had to grab. She thought of nothing else. She urged Toothless to go faster. His wings beat; the wind lashed at her cheeks, whipped her braid around her back. She focused on the torch and basket in her mind's eye.

 _Closer —_

It grew and filled her view. A twitch in his shoulders, and she twisted the pedals. They were so close.

 _Just a bit more — NOW!_

She threw her weight into the turn. He cleared the tree as always — she reached overhead — and —

Something caught in her hand. She grasped at the sticky, prickly mass and it tore with a snap, leaving behind a shaking tree as they flipped back upright. Her chest swelled as she opened her fist and found the pine needles in her palm.

"Yeah!" She yelled to the heavens, throwing them into the wind. That was a relief! She knew she could do it! But she needed to practice some more. And it _was_ a good excuse to stay in the clouds with her dragon.

The rest of the morning was filled with success after success, leaving the tree looking like it was balding. Soon, a flight of multicolored, pastel dragons swept by just over the foliage. The blue and white Stormfly flew at the point of the rough V-formation of Deadly Nadders. Astrid turned in Stormfly's saddle, watching the formation behind her. An orange and yellow fell too far behind and Astrid yelled something at him; Hiccup guessed she was urging the Nadder forward. While she was distracted, a pink and red on the other side suddenly dove for the forest. Astrid spun around but could do nothing more than throw her hands up in the air.

Hiccup smirked at her friend, but decided not to interrupt her. The last thing Astrid needed was more distractions while she trained an entire flight for Bork Week. So she pulled Toothless around and headed back for Berk. The sun was rather high in the sky by now, and she was getting hungry.

As she passed over the bay, she spotted the rather rotund Fishlegs on the beach with his equally rotund Gronckle, Meatlug. He was surrounded by twenty more of the rocky beasts, all rapt with attention as he smiled and talked. He gestured to a collection of shale and granite behind him and one of them lurched forward, as if to grab a layered sheet of stone. Fishlegs stepped between, stopping the dragon and, still smiling, wiggled a chastening finger.

She passed by and descended on Berk. She'd find out what he was doing tomorrow; the whole Academy was going to meet and exchange tricks. She was glad he was working on it, at least, since she could see Ruffnut and Tuffnut wrestling behind the village in front of a dozen green-and-yellow, two-headed Zipplebacks and a herd of yaks. Ruff got the better of her brother and forced him face first into the mud. She pressed her foot into his back and, even from a few hundred feet up, Hiccup could tell that she was gloating. But he just pulled his face up, shook off the mud, and grinned. He must have said something disparaging, because his twin frowned and pushed his face back into the mud. Barf and Belch, their Zippleback, tilted both of their heads curiously on each of their swaying, serpentine necks.

Hiccup shook her head and looked around for her last rider, but Snotlout was nowhere to be seen. He had eight Monstrous Nightmares to train, in addition to Hookfang. She guessed he was on the far side of the island, trying to keep his trick a secret, or he was napping in the Academy. Both were just as likely.

She looked down at her dragon and frowned. All the others had dozens of their own species — each of her riders had their pick for a flight to take on parade. But Toothless . . . Toothless had no one. She'd never seen another Night Fury. Not since the dragon raids ended. Gods, even during the raids. It was a bad night when even one showed up, they'd never been attacked by two at once. Had it always been just Toothless?

She had kept an eye out. She'd seen thousands of dragons on dozens of islands, even added a few new species to the Book of Dragons, but she'd never seen another Night Fury. Even when all the dragons returned to the nest to lay, Toothless had been alone.

She stroked his shoulder. "I wish we could find some friends for you, bud."

He cooed brightly, then banked and brought them down to the Village Square. He landed in three bounds, folded his wings, and waited. She reached down to unhook her prosthetic from the peddle and slid her foot out of the other strap before jumping down.

She breathed in the odor of fresh fish and the overlapping scaly scents of many dragon species. It was a stench she'd grown fond of. Ahead of them, in the center of the square, stood a giant, round, fish-filled feeding trough surrounded by hungry dragons; from tiny Terrible Terrors, small enough to hang on your shoulder, all the way up to her dad's Thunderdrum, the size of a fully laden cart plus a long spiky tail. It was a complete fracas.

Toothless twisted his head around to look at her and his eyes darted to the trough.

She laughed and slapped his shoulder. "Go on!"

His head whipped around and he coiled up taut like a cat, then sprung into the fray. He shoved aside a Nadder, squeezed between a couple Monstrous Nightmares, and dove his face into the sea of fish. She watched with an amused smile.

A beat of wings buffeted her with wind from behind and the ground crunched under a pair of claws. The dragon cawed and a sharp, scaley odour hit her nose as the Deadly Nadder stepped closer. She turned around and shielded her eyes as she look up at the dragon's rider.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Astrid yelled down. She jumped off of Stormfly's back and slapped the dragon's hindquarters to send her off to feed. She brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her eye. "I'm _this_ close to having my Nadders ready for the parade. How's Toothless doing?"

He stopped eating to look back at Astrid. Hiccup smiled at him, "You've got some moves, don't you bud?" She waved at him to continue, and he returned to the trough. "I think we've got our trick down. We should be good for the festival, even if . . ."

She trailed off and turned back to the fray. Stormfly and a blazing orange Nadder, Scorcher, were play fighting over a trout. It didn't last long before it tore in two, leaving Scorcher with the head and Stormfly with the rest. Stormfly bobbed her head in a Nadder's version of a laugh and Scorcher nuzzled his crest of horns into her jaw.

Hiccup let out a wistful sigh.

Astrid held her shoulder and bent down to meet her eye. "What's wrong?"

"Eh, it's nothing." She shrugged, but Astrid's shoulders went flat. Hiccup's heart slipped a bit. She pulled her auburn braid over her shoulder and started petting it rapidly. "It's just . . . Stormfly has all these Nadders as a family. Meatlug has all the Gronckles. Barf, Belch, Hookfang, even Thornado have theirs . . . but Toothless doesn't have anybody."

He stopped eating again. He tilted his head at her, as if what she said was confusing. Astrid squeezed her shoulder.

"He has you. And he seems happy about that."

Toothless jerked his head as if sniffing the air, and opened his mouth in a toothless smile. She knew that meant he was confirming what Astrid said, but she wasn't convinced. "I know, I know, but — I mean, Stormfly has you. But she also has the other Nadders. Meatlug has Fishlegs and the Gronckles. Hookfang has — well, he has the other Monstrous Nightmares and has been good enough to tolerate Snotlout." Astrid chuckled at that. "But Toothless only has me."

Astrid didn't answer right away. She sighed and followed her look to the feeding trough. They watched Stormfly and Scorcher as the dragons abandoned the trough and chased after one another. Scorcher had grabbed a stick in his mouth — no, a broom — and Stormfly chased after him with her wings spread wide. She cornered him, and they danced for a bit, before she snatched the broom and dashed off, Scorcher now chasing her. The Nadders were enjoying themselves in a way they never did with their riders. Hiccup had to wonder, would Stormfly be just as happy if she only had Astrid?

Astrid steeled herself before standing in front of Hiccup and facing her. "So what're we going to do about it? We've been to all the islands within an afternoon's ride. Do you have any idea where to look?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Well, no."

Hiccup looked around at the decorations around town: shed dragon scales strung up and hanging between buildings, figures of dragons painted in charcoal and kermes, and a few carvings of the stout dragon researcher, Bork, hanging from the eaves. More decorations would be going up in the next few days.

She shook her head. "And with the festival bearing down on us . . ."

"Then we'll look after the festival," Astrid said. "We can head south. You've gone as far as Forlorn Point, right? That takes a whole day."

"Well, I had to keep pace with Thornado," she rolled her eyes. "If it was just Toothless and Stormfly . . . but we can't leave for that long. Not with Alvin out there, threatening Berk."

"Your dad can handle . . ." Astrid trailed off looking over Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup turned around and followed her gaze to the sky. High above Raven Point were six black dots hanging in a perfect, horizontal line. Astrid pointed.

"What's that?"


	3. Chapter 2 - Incoming Riders

**Chapter 2**

 **Incoming Riders**

Eight hundred feet over the western cliffs, about an hour's walk south, peaked the solitary, perpetually snowy mountain known as Raven Point. Hanging against the clouds a few hundred feet above that were six unknown shapes in a clear, straight formation. They weren't birds — they were too big. But dragons flew in a clump, not a line.

"I don't know," Hiccup answered.

They were just hovering. Maybe if she got closer… Where was Toothless?

"Hiccup! Look!" Astrid shook her shoulder. She abandoned the search and looked. The shapes were moving, growing larger and falling. Her heart leapt into her throat.

A high pitched dragon-scream, soft at first but growing ever louder, blanketed the town. Her mouth fell into a gape as she stared. It couldn't be. She knew that scream, but there was no way it was a —

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

Everyone in town cowered under shields or their meaty arms, but not her. She stared at the dots, transfixed.

This had to be a dream. How many times had she dreamt about finding Night Furies? Any minute now Toothless would start talking or she'd be standing in the Academy in her skivvies.

The spots became silhouettes, black as night with four legs and a pair of wings pulled tight against smooth, nimble, cat-like bodies. They were all were Night Furies! She'd never dreamed of an entire flight finding her. Toothless finding a girlfriend and having a clutch? Finding a nest of a thousand? Those she'd dreamed. This was something else entirely.

What if it wasn't a dream? Were they attacking? During the day? They never attacked during daylight raids. Nadders and Gronckles, sure, but never Night Furies.

It took mere seconds for them to reach town, but there were no fireballs, no explosions. Then time seemed to slow. Their wide wings unfurled and caught the air. The wind whistled as they pulled up. She pivoted on her heel to follow as they blew past. They blotted out the sun for an instant and in that instant, she could make out their scales, the nails on each of their claws and leather straps wrapped around their chest.

Leather straps?

… Riders?

 _Riders!_

Odin's ghost! Riders! Her chest just about burst, and a giddy grin spread so far across her face it was almost painful. Never had she dreamed — please don't let this be a dream! They weren't attacking, they were announcing themselves!

The flight banked around over the ocean, well past Berk. She squinted; there was definitely something on their backs. She had to get a closer look, she had to know — and then she remembered.

She patted her vest until she found the lump in her forward pocket and practically tore out the spyglass. She put it to her face so fast she hurt her eye, but she ignored the pain and focused.

Each dragon had at least one rider. Two had a pair. Eight riders — from the body shapes: five men, three women. The middle one was obviously the commander, but they were all wearing the same royal blue dyed leather, of the same shape and cut, and their heads were covered by shiny, round helmets. When they came around, she saw their face masks; Simple, leather coverings with a single slit at the eyes. Compared to them, the armor worn by the warriors of Berk seemed chaotic.

They came around to Black Skull Beach, just west of the town. The commander held up his hand and they came to a stop mid air. She had a notion to fly out to meet them, but those thoughts were quickly dashed.

"What in Thor's name is going on out here?"

The chief's voice thundered from the smithy as he burst out. She forced herself to lower the spyglass and turn toward her dad. Gobber followed, his usual hook hand replaced with a pair of tongs holding a bent sword. Gobber searched the skies, while her dad's eyes fell someplace much closer.

"Hiccup!" He placed his fists on his hips and shook his head. "What did I tell you about buzzing the town like that?"

"It wasn't me, Dad!" She motioned over the cliff. "Look! Dragon riders!"

" _What?_ " He stormed over to get a look at the new arrivals. At that moment, the Night Furies folded their wings and plummeted to the beach below, only to splay at the last moment and sink softly onto the sand.

Her dad didn't take his eyes off the riders. "Hiccup, stay here. Astrid, make sure she stays here. Gobber, with me."

Her heart fell as he turned from the cliff. "Dad, I —"

"Not now!" He yelled as he galloped toward his Thunderdrum, still at the trough. The dragon looked up when he whistled, then leapt through the air to meet his rider half way.

"Spitelout! Gather a defensive party!" He yelled as he grabbed his Thunderdrum's reins. "Arm them! We don't know what they mean to do here, be ready. Gobber, get up here."

Her dad had already climbed onto Thornado's back and grasped Gobber's good arm to pull him up. Spitelout hurried to the Thunderdrum's side, giving Gobber a sword and taking the bent one he still held. Stoick gave his dragon a swift kick and they were airborne.

She returned the spyglass to her eye and trained it on the riders. They had dismounted and were taking off their gear — the helmet, face mask, and the heavier portions of their armor. Was that their riding gear? Her eye fixated on the commander. He wasn't remotely like the men she knew.

You could be forgiven for mistaking a Viking on all fours for a yak, but these foreigners were… _svelte_ , was the only word she could think of. The commander was the most chiseled; she'd guess he was no more than five years older than her. He had a nice face with a confident look about him that somehow kept her from looking away. He might look even better if she got closer...

"What're you smiling at?" Astrid said in a teasing voice. Hiccup hadn't even realized she was. She lowered the spyglass and forced her smile to fall.

"Eh, nothin'." She shrugged with a sheepish glance at her friend. The notion returned — she could just take Toothless and fly down! She looked around as she pushed the spyglass into her pocket, but she didn't have to look far. He had already slunk up to the cliff and was looking down at the riders. "What do you say, Bud? Want to go visit the Night Furies?"

She was on his back before he'd had a chance to coo his response. She hooked her safety lines and twisted the pedals into a take off position. He coiled up —

Astrid jumped in the way, her arms raised, and Hiccup jolted in surprise. She twisted the pedals back, afraid they'd hurt Astrid if they took off now. Astrid glared at her. "What do you think you're doing? Your dad said to stay!"

"But… Oh come on!" She gestured past the cliff. "They're _right there!_ I've been wanting to see more Night Furies for ages!"

"This is more than just dragons, Hiccup!" Astrid said. "Your dad knows how to handle foreign chiefs. Think about what it'll look like if a Night Fury comes shooting at them during negotiations. Will they think they're under attack?" Her glare turned into a scowl. She lowered her arms and crossed them. "What will your dad say if you mess this up?"

Hiccup couldn't match Astrid's look. The best she could muster was crossing her arms back, but she couldn't even meet her eye. She had to admit Astrid did have a point. She didn't want to go back to being the town screw up. She shifted the tail back to a neutral position and Toothless relaxed.

"You'll have plenty of time to meet them if things go well." Astrid stepped around Toothless and pet his shoulder. She smiled reassuringly up at Hiccup. "Just be patient."

Hiccup nodded in defeat and dismounted, the spring in her prosthetic sinking as she pressed into the ground. She went back to the cliff, taking out the spyglass again. Thornado had landed, and both Stoick and Gobber were talking with the foreign commander. It wasn't easy to make out through the spyglass, but her dad looked tense. Gobber looked like he was probably cracking wise at every opportunity.

But the commander smiled, his back straight and arms wide. He had a nice smile, she thought. As he spoke, he gestured in a very smooth and effortless way. He turned and waved at one of the Night Furies. Stoick and Gobber looked at it, and she followed. Such a beautiful creature! Oh how she wanted to see it up close!

She lowered the glass and threw a glance at the path down to the beach. She could get closer on foot! It wouldn't look like they were being attacked, right? She'd just have to give Astrid the slip. She'd wait until she wasn't looking, then sneak around a house. Then down the path, keep to the tree line —

"Uh uh."

Astrid grabbed her hand.

"I can see what you're thinking. Let your dad handle this."

Hiccup's shoulders fell and she gave her a pitiful look.

"No!" Astrid tightened her grip. "Sit with me. Be patient."

She followed Astrid in sitting, resting her back against Toothless. She knew she wouldn't be able to slip off now. She put the glass back to her eye and hoped things were going well down there.


	4. Chapter 3 - Lord Kiefer

**Chapter 3**

 **Lord Kiefer**

As she sat and watched the new arrivals, more and more Vikings gathered around the cliff to get a good look. Fishlegs was first among them. Ruff and Tuff soon came to see what was going on, and eventually Snotlout arrived as well. It seemed like half the village came over — if they hadn't heard the Night Furies announce themselves, they had heard through the rumor mill.

There really wasn't much to see. About fifteen minutes after they had arrived, they started setting up a campsite, apparently with her dad's permission. Some started to care for their dragons. The commander continued to negotiate.

Once it became clear that nothing was going to happen, most wandered off back to whatever they were doing. Hiccup and her riders remained, though. Fishlegs scribbled in his notebook as he observed. Snotlout leaned against Hookfang, cross-armed, with a nonplussed look on his face. The twins distracted themselves chasing a Terrible Terror, but stayed nearby. And Astrid . . . she kept a firm grip on Hiccup's hand as they sat side by side, resting their backs against Toothless.

She couldn't help but imagine herself down there, immersed in the scent of Night Furies. She imagined playing with them, tossing sticks, wrestling. . . . Her eyes wandered to the clouds as she imagined being up there, Toothless leading an entire flight as they soared around the island. They'd come around back to the village. The Bork Week Festival would be just starting, everyone would be outside watching. Fishlegs and his Gronckles would do some hovering dance; Snotlout and the Nightmares would lay a carpet of fire; the Zipplebacks would set off air bursts; Astrid would fly low with a V-Formation of Nadders; and for the finale, Hiccup and the whole flight of Night Furies would dive from on high. They'd weave between buildings, left, right, then come up on the flower baskets. They'd snatch them off the rooftops and raid torches, and spread the petals as an official start of the ceremony. The foreign commander would be there; he'd love it. He'd smile that beautiful smile. He'd say he was impressed, he'd admire her abilities. He'd lean over —

"They're coming back," Snotlout said.

Her eyes descended to the ground once again. Gobber had climbed onto Thornado. He managed to pull the dragon around, but Thornado obstinately refused to take flight again. She could see Gobber arguing, and then pleading, until her dad yelled at his dragon. Finally he took off without his owner and started back.

Stoick trudged his way back across the beach, the foreign commander and a pair of his people with him. One looked like a guard, still wearing his armor and holding several blades at his hip, while the other was more weasel-like and only carried a book.

"Only took 'em an hour." Snotlout turned at Hiccup and laughed. "Looks like you're not special anymore! Turns out Night Furies love riders — you got the easy one! What a worthless Dragon Master!"

Astrid stood up and marched straight over to him.

"Not the face!"

Which was exactly where Astrid punched him. He stumbled and Hookfang caught him.

"Looks like it's good news, at least," Fishlegs called over, completely unconcerned about the familiar violence. "I mean, he wouldn't be bringing the foreigners if it went bad. Right?"

Hiccup nodded. "Probably."

"I can't wait to see what they know about Night Furies, an' — and Gronckles and other dragons! How many d'you think they know?"

"What I wonder," Tuffnut said as he and his sister returned to the cliff side, "is what kind of damage six Night Furies can do!"

He grinned and rubbed his palms together.

"Think they could give us a demonstration?" Ruffnut shoved her brother's shoulder. "I volunteer Tuff as the target!"

"Puh, whatever!" He rolled his eyes and flicked his hand dismissively. Then, after a pause, added, "Just tell me when to be there."

"Spitelout!"

Gobber had finally arrived. Thornado landed hard and he jumped off.

"We're having guests! Real guests. Diplomatic sort. Be friendly." He turned toward the town center, then turned back to add, "By which I mean, don't attack them."

He looked around the village, scratching his chin with the tongs still replacing his hook hand. "Now then. Mulch, Bucket, gather some fish and cabbage. Enough for six men and dragons, deliver it to the beach. What else did Stoick say? What else..."

He scanned the village before his eyes reached the Great Hall, up the hill. "Oh! Right. Rockboil! Prepare a feast! Make it better than last time — you almost started a war, and my skivvies still haven't recovered."

The Vikings dispersed to take care of their jobs. Gobber started to follow Rockboil, likely to ensure that the food was palatable, but suddenly noticed the tongs. He shook his head and went back to the smithy chuckling.

Hiccup looked down at the beach again. The foreigners had removed the saddles from their Night Furies, who were now mingling in a group. Half of them found someplace to lie down, while the others sat or stalked around the camp.

"I hope they get along with Toothless," she said. Astrid turned around; Snotlout was still rubbing his jaw. She came over and knelt down, eyebrows raised in concern. Hiccup looked away, feeling guilty. "I just mean, I'd like him to have a family."

Astrid put a hand on her shoulder and gave her another reassuring smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She looked out at the Night Furies. "They look friendly, at least. I just hope their riders are. That's the big thing. Think about it, Hiccup! Riders! And if they're friendly? I . . . I can't even imagine it."

"I know." Hiccup nodded. "I hadn't even considered it before. Everyone else is so afraid of dragons . . . the Outcasts, the Berserkers, even villages like Forlorn Point and Hopeless." She drew a breath and shrugged. "Maybe . . . Maybe they can help us. Against Alvin, or Dagur — if he ever, y'know . . ."

"Figures out our ruse?"

She actually wanted to say 'grows a brain', but shrugged. "Sure, that's a better way to say it."

"An ally would be one thing, but really, I'm just amazed that we aren't alone."

Hiccup smiled. She was right. There was someone else with the same philosophy, who didn't hunt dragons, who wasn't afraid. She, her riders, her village wasn't a fluke, a flame that would burn out all too soon. Dragon training was something real.

She heard her father's voice growing. " — and once introductions are done, I can show you around. My daughter's been trying to get me to offload things like this to Gobber, but . . ."

She jumped to her feet and brushed herself off. He crested the hill, the commander right behind. Her heart jumped at the sight of him. He looked even more handsome up close — his square jaw, his confident brow, and his bright, blue eyes. The way his look darted around the village was that of genuine interest, a curiosity borne from a thirst for knowledge.

Astrid leaned over to whisper, "Wow." Hiccup couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Actually, she should be right around . . ." Her father looked straight at her, exactly where he had left her. He grinned his wide, toothy grin. "Ah! Perfect. And she's even gathered the rest of our riders!"

He strode up to them. The commander stopped beside him, flanked by the other two foreigners. His guard rested his hand on the hilt of his longsword. He had two other weapons, a shortsword and, on the other side, a dagger. His face was hidden behind a riding mask. The weasely looking man held up his book and a thin pencil.

"Everyone!" Stoick put his fists on his hips and met each of the riders' eyes. "This is our guest. He's from a place far, far to the south, called Mesa Del Cadre. He's an ambassador, and a Lord in their lands, so you will give him the same respect you would give me. His name is Lord Kiefer."

"I have heard much about you," Kiefer said, his voice smooth and commanding. "I look forward to speaking with you, sharing and learning techniques and, hopefully, becoming friends and allies."

"Allow me to introduce them." Stoick motioned at the blonde-haired siblings. "These are the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut."

He tilted his head and his eyes flicked between them. He covered his mouth to whisper aside, "Which is which?"

Stoick's laugh boomed across the village. "I often ask that question myself! Ruff is the girl."

His brow furrowed and he looked between them again. "That doesn't help much."

Well, Ruff is the one eyeing your muscles, Hiccup wanted to say.

"It's not that hard!" Ruffnut straightened and jabbed a thumb into her chest. "I'm the strong one!"

Tuffnut scoffed. "I'm the tough one. It says so in my name."

Ruffnut shoved her brother around to face her. "Yeah?" She drew in close. "Well Mom didn't know when she named us, otherwise she'd have named me tough!"

"Ruff, Tuff," Hiccup growled. They stepped back and turned away from each other. She sighed in relief. She glanced at Kiefer, but his expression was inscrutable. Still, she knew, she just knew, that they hadn't been a good first impression of her riders.

"Anyway. This is Fishlegs." Stoick motioned at the heavy-set rider. "I understand he's an expert on the Book of Dragons. Our Book of Dragons, I mean."

"Ah, the book-keeper." Kiefer gave Fishlegs a respectful nod. "Very good. Glad to meet you."

"I'd, uh…" Fishlegs held his notebook tight to his chest, tapping his index fingers against it. He swallowed. "I'd like to know about your Night Furies… We only have one... so we… we don't know that much about them, and you have so many…"

"'Night Furies', huh?" Kiefer pinched his chin, looking past Fishlegs at Toothless.

Fishlegs opened his book and snatched up his charcoal pencil. "Anything, anything you could tell us! I'd like to know about any dragons you know!"

"Not now, Fishlegs," Stoick said. He motioned to the next rider. "This is Snotlout. He's…"

Stoick paused for a very long moment and frowned. He was obviously searching for something positive to say about the eldest of the dragon riders.

"...He's my cousin's son."

"And the only one who knows how the Academy should run!" Snotlout interjected. "I tell ya, you want to know anything important about our dragons, talk to me. You want to know anything geeky, talk to him." He jabbed his thumb at Fishlegs.

Hiccup scowled. She was quite certain this wasn't impressing the foreign ambassador, either. Kiefer didn't even say anything.

"This is Astrid." Stoick moved on. "A good lass. She was our most promising dragon fighter, and has become one of our best dragon trainers, the first to be taught, in fact. She did a lot to convince the rest of us."

Kiefer smiled that nice smile of his as his eyes lingered on Astrid. "And such beauty to go with that strength. A pleasure."

Hiccup shifted her weight to her other leg as a strange pain gripped her chest. The spring in her faux foot sunk under the pressure. Her eyes fell, but she couldn't help but shoot a jealous glance at Astrid.

"Oh! Uh." Astrid's eyes widened and she seemed to freeze. _Freyja_ , what happened to the girl that could rebuff Snotlout from halfway across the academy? She didn't know what to do with someone she actually liked? "Thank you. ...Uh, you too."

Speaking of Snotlout, he had turned a dark look on Kiefer. At least he was smart enough not to say anything. At least, she hoped he was smart enough.

Stoick leaned sideways and uttered in a hush, "Saved the best for last."

He motioned at the final dragon rider. "Our Dragon Master, and my daughter, Hiccup. She befriended a dragon, convinced Astrid, taught her and the others to train, and together, convinced all of us, that dragons aren't the enemy. She's done me proud."

Hiccup smiled at that.

"Which makes you the one I've heard so much about." Kiefer smiled and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet such a smart and —" He looked her over once before finishing, " — fetching young lady."

Her cheeks felt like she'd spent too much time in the sun. She tried to swallow a lump in her throat. "The pleasure is mine, Lord Kiefer."

His smile broadened. "You can call me Kiefer, Lady Hiccup."

Her cheeks now burned like the skin of a Fireworm. She couldn't meet his eye. "Just Hiccup, please."

"As you wish." He turned to her dad, which made it much easier to look up. "Chief Stoick, I'd request both Lady Hiccup — sorry, 'just' Hiccup — and Miss Astrid attend the feast with us. I would like to hear their perspectives."

"Of course Hiccup was coming," Stoick said. Yes, _of course_ , it's not like he'd bother to ask. "Astrid, you can come too."

He knelt down and lowered his voice. "Hiccup, I want you to wash up and put on your best furs. Astrid, if you could help her with that… She's never been that good at making herself look, well, good."

Hiccup rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"You're fine." Astrid smiled and massaged her shoulder. "But I'll help you be better."

"Good. You should put on something formal, too." Stoick stood and turned back to the foreign ambassador. "Now, what would you like to see first?"

"Well, I'm interested in your day to day tasks. What is it like to live here?"

"In that case, to the docks!" Stoick motioned for the opposite side of the village where wooden cranes jutted out over the cliff side. "Fishing is one of our most common tasks. We'll work our way back from there . . . "

She lost her father's voice in the overlapping chatter of the other villagers as he and the foreigners continued on their way.


	5. Chapter 4 - Preparations

**Chapter 4**

 **Preparations**

Astrid pulled on Hiccup's shoulder and started down the hard dirt path. Hiccup threw a glance at the cliffside again. The twins and Snotlout wandered off, talking in excited whispers. Meanwhile Fishlegs had sat again, hanging his legs off the cliff and brandishing his charcoal pencil as he made notes about the… Mesians? Mesites? Cadrites? What would you call one of the foreigners from Mesa del Cadre?

Hiccup turned back to the path, but didn't pay much attention to where Astrid was leading her. She wondered what perspective this foreign lord — Kiefer — wanted from her. It had to be something to do with her status as a Dragon Master, right?

They arrived in the cobblestone circle near the back of the village and Astrid went straight to the well in the center. She drew three buckets of water and, while Hiccup struggled to carry one against her chest, carried the remaining pair to the nearby bathhouse. Hiccup was nearly out of breath when they arrived and practically dropped hers once they were inside. There had to be a better way to get water to the bathhouse!

Astrid opened the shutters on the windows, allowing the afternoon sun to flow inside. "Strange that your dad wants you to wash on a Wednesday, but — " She motioned at the three wooden, wax-sealed tubs. "At least that means we've got the place to ourselves."

Hiccup had already sat on the lip of the center tub and started untying the prosthetic attached below her knee. She sighed in relief when it came free. It didn't really hurt, but it was nice to let off the pressure. She set it against the wall as Toothless followed inside. He sniffed at it.

While Hiccup undressed, Astrid took her hair and unraveled the braid. "Did you wash this on Saturday?"

She shook her head. "I usually only wash it every month. I think I was going to wash it next Saturday."

She set her clothes aside and slid back into the empty basin. Astrid moved behind her and fluffed her hair. "Well, if your dad wants you to clean up, we'll have to get this done, too. Close your eyes."

Hiccup gripped the sides of the tub and braced herself while Astrid hefted up a bucket. The next moment a wave of frigid water crashed over her head like a hammer of ice.

She hugged her violently shaking shoulders in a futile attempt to keep warm. "Odin's ghost, that's c-cold!"

Toothless shot a burst of flame into the floor, warm air cresting over her. A thin wisp of smoke sizzled from the still glowing stone. "T-Thanks, bud," she said through still chattering teeth.

Astrid took a thin necked ceramic bottle down from a wall shelf and poured its oily contents onto Hiccup's hair and massaged it into a lather. She stopped for a moment to slap Hiccup's arm with the back of her hand.

"Stop picking at it!"

She stopped scratching her stump. It always tingled oddly when it got wet. Sometimes she could swear she felt the water running down her missing leg.

Astrid sighed as she returned to her hair.

"It's weird though, isn't it? He didn't make you get cleaned up when the Berserkers came for their visit."

"Ew." Hiccup cringed and frowned over her shoulder. "I'm going to need to scrub just to clean off that thought."

She reached for a yak tallow and a linen washcloth and got started. It took her a moment to realize Astrid had stopped kneading and was giving her a questioning look.

She rolled her eyes. "Dad knows I'd never marry Dagur the Deranged."

"Oh." Astrid laid a soapy hand on her bare shoulder. "Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah. Dad's hinted at it once or twice." She shrugged, adding, " — a _day_. Ever since my birthday."

"Oh that's right, I keep forgetting you're of age."

Hiccup stopped washing and glared at her friend.

"Don't give me that look. You're tiny, it's easy to forget how old you are."

She shook her head and went back to washing as Astrid continued with her hair.

"So I guess Lord Kiefer impressed your dad then."

"Oh, Dad's suggested men he hasn't even _met_ ," she said in a long suffering tone. She affected a faux-deep voice, "'How about that new chief of Sunken Bluffs? Chief Sorge says he's a great guy!' Yeah, 'cause I want to live a month away married to a guy I've never met. Great idea!"

"He's just looking out for you."

She dropped the yak tallow and spun around, pulling her hair from Astrid's fingers. She seized the sides of the tub and glared into Astrid's eyes.

"I'm a dragon rider! A Dragon Master, he called me! Yet he says I need someone to protect me! Who could possibly be better than Toothless?"

Said dragon looked up from where he laid guarding her clothes and fake leg. Astrid glanced at him and kept her voice low. "A human protector and a dragon one are very different."

Hiccup sighed and turned back around, snatching up the tallow and scrubbing her arms with it. It was just so frustrating. What did she need to do to prove herself? "I don't see anyone demanding you get married."

"Ma does hint from time to time. Besides, I can knock out any three men with a stool, let alone with an axe. So if you need human protection, _I'll_ provide it."

She jerked in surprise and looked back at her. "Really?"

She smiled. "Why not?"

"Well, if you're offering." Hiccup grinned and went back to washing.

Astrid released Hiccup's hair and shook the soap off her hands. She snatched up a linen cloth and wiped her hands before retrieving a comb. She started with short sweeps at the bottom of her hair and moved a little closer to the scalp with each gradually lengthening stroke. She finally spoke up just as she reached half way.

"You could do worse. Kiefer doesn't seem bad. He certainly looks tough enough. And . . . that jawline. Mmm."

Hiccup's cheeks instantly felt hotter than the stone Toothless had flamed. The image of Kiefer's smiling face and brilliant eyes popped into her mind. She was honestly surprised the water droplets on her cheeks didn't become steam. Astrid chuckled and ran a cool finger down her cheek. "Aww, looks like you think so, too!"

"He could look like Fishlegs for all I care," she insisted, though she didn't sound very convincing, even to herself. Without thinking she whispered, "Though he does have nice eyes."

Astrid rinsed off the comb in the tub. "Here, let me get your back."

She handed Astrid the tallow block and washcloth and pulled her hair over her shoulder.

"Have you heard what the twins are teaching Barf and Belch?" Astrid said as she rubbed the washcloth over her shoulders.

Hiccup couldn't help but groan. "Oh no. What are they doing this time? Exploding yaks?"

"Don't give them any ideas," Astrid muttered in her ear. She went back to rubbing her back. "No, they've been teaching them how to headbutt." Before Hiccup could consider what possible tactical use that would be, Astrid added, "Well, to headbutt each other."

Her face scrunched of its own volition and she bit her tongue. Why were those two always so much trouble? She put a hand to her forehead. "I need to assign them a keeper."

"Not it." Astrid smirked and Hiccup sighed. The worst part was that even if the trouble had nothing to do with dragons, they were still her responsibility. She would have thought their father would take care of those times. But no, they're her riders first and foremost. At least Snotlout only got into trouble occasionally, but the twins! Augh!

"Okay, I think you're ready to rinse off."

Astrid set aside the yak tallow and picked up another bucket. Hiccup flicked her hair back over her shoulder and gripped the tub again. Another frozen hammer strike hit her as Astrid dumped half the bucket onto her chest. She grit her teeth against the cold even as her arms shook again.

The next moment her shoulders were wrapped with a stiff linen towel. She pulled herself out of the half filled tub and balanced herself on one foot against the side. Astrid gave her another towel and together they finished drying her off.

Once ready, she reached for her clothes.

"Nuh uh," Astrid said. "We just got you clean. You'll just make yourself dirty again wearing those."

"Well I can't go starkers."

"Of course not. Wrap a towel around yourself."

"I can't wear my leg without pants." She massaged her stump and looked over at the prosthetic. The wood was hard, and without the padding of the folded up pant leg, it was impossible to walk from the pain.

"I guess I'll carry you then."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Not over my shoulder or anything, I meant I'd help you stay up."

And so she hooked Hiccup's arm over her neck and lifted her to her foot. They took her clothes and prosthetic and she half walked up the hill to the chief's home, then upstairs to Hiccup's room. Astrid deposited her on her bed, and Toothless curled up on his slab.

"Where do you keep your clothes?"

Hiccup pointed to the base of her bed. "In my trunk."

Astrid lifted the lid and tossed her some skivvies before rummaging further through it. Hiccup pulled off the towel and slipped on the undergarments.

"Freya, do you only have trousers and tunics? Ah! Here we go."

She pulled a vibrant azure blue dress from someplace buried deep inside. Hiccup had forgotten about that thing.

Astrid spread it in the air like it were a sail and looked it over with delight. "Why haven't I ever seen you wear this?"

"I…" Hiccup shrugged. "I don't like dresses."

Astrid turned a stern eye on her and motioned at her own leather-banded skirt. "What's wrong with dresses?"

"Nothing!" She held up her hands defensively. "They look great on you. I just don't know how to wear them."

"It's not hard. Here, you're wearing this."

"But —"

"Do you want to look good or not?"

Kiefer's face flashed through her mind again, and she considered what he'd think of it. She felt something warm inside. "... Yes. But what about my leg?"

"Oh. Right. That." Astrid's face scrunched as she considered the stump. "Well, it's too cold to wear a dress without trousers anyway."

She returned to the trunk and snatched out the first pair she could lay her hands on. While Hiccup put those on, Astrid went back to the dress.

"It feels really nice. Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift. A trader gave it to me when I went down to Hopeless with Dad. He said it was made of something called cotton."

"Must've been expensive." Astrid tore her eyes from the cloth once Hiccup had her leg tied on. "Alright, stand up."

Hiccup got to her feet and let Astrid drape the cloth over her head. It was rather nice, actually. Softer than her usual linen shirts, but not itchy like wool. The cut was tight, but a little loose on her hips. She took two short steps around her bed to get a yak-leather belt from her trunk and wrapped it around her waist. Lastly she grabbed a vest — not her usual bear fur, but the fine beaver fur she barely ever wore.

She took a few steps and twirled around to feel the motion of the cloth. She looked down at herself and frowned. It rather felt like a fishing net around her legs. She couldn't even take a full stride.

She looked up and found Astrid covering her mouth in a failed attempt to contain her amusement.

"What?" Hiccup demanded.

"It's just…" She motioned at her, smirking, seemingly unable to find her words. Finally she dropped her hands and said, "You look so cute!"

"Is cute what we want?"

"Yes, he'll like it, don't worry. Here, do you have any dried flower petals?"

Hiccup pointed to a collection of ceramic jars. "The grey one."

Astrid picked it up and popped the large cork.

"Rose petals?" She raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. "I'd say you're more of a white lily sort of girl. Eh, it's got a strong smell. It'll work."

She picked a couple petals from the jar and crunched them between her palms, releasing a burst of fragrance. She stepped in front of Hiccup, dipped her thumb into the powder, and then lightly brushed some of the pink dye onto her cheeks. "Just a bit of color."

"Like my cheeks aren't red enough when I look at him," she mumbled. Astrid laughed. She dusted the remaining powder over Hiccup's vest. She breathed in the aroma now swirling around her.

"Well, that should be good." She looked Hiccup over once more and nodded. "Yeah. You look great."

Hiccup smirked. "And here I thought I was plain looking."

"We should head down to the feast. I'll meet you there, okay?"

Hiccup nodded and followed her back down stairs. They split up when they left the house, and both Hiccup and Toothless continued on up the hill.


	6. Chapter 5 - Dragon Care

**Chapter 5**

 **Dragon Care**

The Great Hall, a giant building made of stone and cement, stood atop the hill just east of the village. It served not only as a meal hall for lunch and dinner, but also the thingstead for her father's council. Sometimes both at once. In the back, chefs and their assistants bustled from sizzling grill to smoking oven, preparing a full blown feast so soon after a communal lunch. From the tizzy they were in, Hiccup could guess that they weren't done yet.

So rather than just sit in the hall and wait, she decided to take Toothless into the field adjacent to it. She scratched him behind the earflaps and his eyes fell half shut, clearly pleased. She moved on to the saddle, and loosened its straps for him. She then ran her fingers between the leather and his scales, picking out the debris that had gotten stuck. He didn't show discomfort over it, but she could imagine it was like a pebble in your boot. It wasn't too bad today, mostly leaves and pollen, some dirt, even an odd feather.

"Caring for your Night Fury, Lady — sorry, Hiccup?"

Her heart skipped at the sound of Kiefer's voice and she spun around, the dress flowing around her as she moved. He strode into the field, leaving her dad on the dirt path to the Great Hall. Her dad merely watched, but his face wasn't hard with concern. Instead, his lips pulled up slightly, as if he wanted to smile but dared not. She didn't care what he was hoping for, if she was going to talk with Kiefer the last thing she wanted was for him to watch. Her eyes narrowed. He must have caught the hint, as he turned and took an interest in the cooks.

"So what's his name?"

"Huh?" She looked around; Kiefer was already beside her. He smiled a charming smile for her, sending a wave of grasshoppers skittering in her chest. He motioned at her dragon and she remembered his question. "Oh! Kiefer, this is Toothless. Toothless, Kiefer."

Kiefer fixed his eyes on the ground just ahead of her Night Fury and slowly extended one hand. Toothless glanced between him and Hiccup, then leaned forward and pressed his nose into Kiefer's palm.

"Glad to meet you, Toothless." He smiled again and rubbed the dragon's flat nose. "I suppose you're named after the male's retractable teeth, huh?"

"Wait, what?" Her eyes widened and she looked at him as if she had to confirm he wasn't joking. "It's only the males?"

"Let's just say it's part of their mating habits." He crossed around to Toothless's right side. He spun an outstretched index finger in a circle and Toothless apparently understood. He tilted his head and Kiefer inspected three little musk frills under his jaw. "Hmm. I'd say he's about sixteen… Maybe seventeen."

"Really?" Her eyes dodged between the two of them. "He's my age? I expected him to be more like, I don't know, Dad's age or something."

"He's a young guy, certainly." He pat Toothless's shoulder. "Probably been out looking for some ladies, haven't you, boy?"

Toothless cooed and nuzzled her dress, as if to say he already had a lady. His nose caught the back of her good knee and she started to fall, but she managed to reach out and catch herself on his head.

Kiefer lifted his hand off the draconic shoulder and brushed his fingers against his palm, frowning. "Where's your scale smoother?"

"My what?"

She looked up from her affectionate dragon and found Kiefer had his hand out like he was expecting something.

"Your scale smoother." He pantomimed petting Toothless, but she could only give him a confused look. He reached into a satchel at his side and pulled something out. "One of these."

He held up a mitt made of knitted leather.

"Wow." She took it from him and turned it over. The palm was flat, thick, and very rough, almost like sand. "What is it?"

She caught herself before he could answer with what she would figure as a justifiable snark. "Okay, it's a scale smoother. My bad. I mean, what's it do? How do you use it?"

"Like this."

He put his hand into the mitt and pressed it into Toothless's shoulder. In a quick, short burst he swept it along his back. Her dragon reacted immediately, his eyes widening and then falling half shut in a look of contentment. Kiefer scraped it along a couple more times, drawing out a soft croon as if Kiefer was scratching a troublesome itch.

"See? You press in firmly, but not roughly. It smooths out the bad scales so he can get a better bite on the air. He'll be able to make tighter turns, fly faster…"

He pulled off the smoother and held it out to her. "Here, give it a try."

She took it and slipped it on; it was still warm from his hand, giving her weird tingles up her arm. She took a breath and tried to focus on the dragon in front of her. Kiefer moved aside and watched as she put her mitted hand on Toothless's shoulder. She brushed along his hide a couple times before Kiefer interrupted.

"A little harder." He stepped up behind her and took her hand. He moved her hand to her dragon's shoulder again and pressed it in as he guided her in another sweep. She had trouble paying attention as his warmth enveloped her and a scent of leather and something beyond that tickled her nose, sending the crickets in her chest into a jumping frenzy.

Toothless crooned again from the added pressure and Kiefer nodded at him. "See? You like that don't you, boy? Now, notice here —" he moved her hand, " — there's a loose scale, right?"

Indeed, one of the scales wobbled under the mitt. It felt so strange compared to the tightly fitted scales beside it. How did that feel for him, she wondered? Was this why he scratched sometimes?

"A new scale is growing under it," Kiefer said, "so it'll fall out on its own in time. He'll find it irritating until then, so it's best to help it along."

He twisted her hand around. The far side of the mitt, opposite the way she was sweeping, had a corner, which he now used to pin the scale and pluck it out. Toothless woofed in relief.

"Felt good, huh?" He let go of her hand and stepped back, leaving her cold and weirdly disappointed. He motioned at her to continue. "Go ahead."

She concentrated again, even though the memory of his scent was still vivid, and pressed the smoother into Toothless's hide. He stretched and crooned against her hand, and she couldn't help but grin at his reaction. She gained more confidence as she continued.

"Does he not have any good pumice deposits around?"

She looked over her shoulder; Kiefer was stroking his wing. He saw her looking and nodded at it.

"When you do the wings, make sure you only do the meaty leading edge. The skin on his wing is very sensitive."

"He does get a bit sore when people touch it." She looked over her dragon. His scales swirled in a subtle grain, like that of wood, from nose to tail — the same way as she'd been sweeping. But on his wings, it flowed from his shoulders to his wingtips. "So, when I do the wings, I just follow the grain?"

He smiled again. "Exactly."

She ran her bare palm over the scales she had already smoothed and marveled at how much nicer they felt. That was great by itself, but it's going to help with his flying, too? The wings would probably do the most good, then, so she moved on to them.

She smoothed along the leading edge up to the first joint, then along the top. She motioned at Toothless to raise his wings and started on the underside when she caught Kiefer out of the corner of her eye, watching her every move.

Suddenly very self conscious, her movement became stilted and slow. He obviously noticed.

"It's okay, you were doing fine," he said. "I'll let you know if you need to change anything."

She nodded and did her best to ignore the fact that his handsome eyes were following every flick of her arm, every sway of her shoulders. It proved to be a difficult job. She couldn't help but wonder if he liked what he was seeing, and yet strangely worried that he might not.

Damn it, why did he have to be so good looking? Astrid was right about that jawline. But it was those eyes that seemed so brilliant a blue, so enticing. Not to mention his Night Fury. That flight suit was also sharp — his shoulders really filled it out — and she could just imagine how tight his muscles were, how they flexed —

She had to look away to hide a rapidly growing blush.

Gah! What was she thinking? He was a foreign diplomat! He wasn't going to be here long. Even if he did court her (oh, how alluring of a thought!) what would she do? Would she have to abandon her village to go back to Mesa del Cadre with him?

But she liked Berk. Then again, what were her options, here?

Fishlegs? … _Meh._

Tuffnut? … _Have you_ met _him?_

Snotlout? … _Now you're just being gross._

That pretty much left foreigners, and her dad kept suggesting sons of other chiefs. She really ought to expect to leave. But at least those foreign men weren't interesting enough to even consider, giving her time to stay. But Kiefer…

She stole another glance as she finished this side of Toothless. He still watched with a little smile, pinching his chin in thought. He certainly had something those other foreigners didn't, and it wasn't just that he rode dragons.

He followed her as she made her way around to the other side. She put the smoother to Toothless's shoulder once again — then stopped. There was a bevel on one side of the palm, the same side she had been sweeping toward. There must be a reason…

Perhaps . . . yes, it would keep the smoother from skipping. It would make each sweep cleaner and easier. The mitt had an opening on the other side, so she just had to turn it around.

Kiefer nodded his approval when she did so and she smirked. She went back to her dragon's scales.

After watching a few sweeps, though, Kiefer took an interest in Toothless's saddle. He glanced over the pedals with an arched eyebrow, then followed the lines back to his prosthetic fin. His brow gathered into a dark scowl.

"What happened here?"

"It was an accident!" Hiccup said quickly, afraid of what he might be thinking. "He crashed. I . . . I made the tail for him so he could fly again."

He perked up at that. "You made this?"

Her heart lifted in relief. "It took a few tries, but yeah. At first I tried a simple rope with the fin, but it needs some fine control. So, the pedal system. Left controls the angle, right the spread. I have to read his needs and position the tail so we can fly."

"Fascinating." He tilted his head. "That sounds like an amazing synergy between rider and dragon. I'd love to see it."

She gave him a grin, but then went back to Toothless's wing.

"Maybe after I'm done I can show you."


	7. Chapter 6 - The Feast

**Chapter 6**

 **The Feast**

Hiccup hastened to finish smoothing Toothless's scales. If she finished quickly, she could get into the air with Kiefer. He didn't have his Night Fury with him, so he'd have to ride with her. She knew Toothless could take the weight since she'd ridden double with Fishlegs. And if Kiefer rode with her, he could get a good look. At… At her flying, that is. Just a quick flight. They could be back before the feast.

"I'm glad you two are getting along!"

She jumped as her dad's voice boomed behind her. She was so close to finishing! Just a few more sweeps on his tail! But she turned around and her dad clapped his hands together while grinning at Kiefer.

"The feast is just about ready. Some of my Thingmenn are eager to meet you. The feast should be ready before introductions are finished."

So much for flying. She took a step toward the men and her leg caught on the fabric of her dress; she managed to catch herself with a stumble. It was just as well they weren't going flying, could she even ride with this leg trap wrapped around her?

Once she reached Kiefer she took off the scale smoother and held it out to him. He smiled and put his hand on hers, its warmth spreading up her arm and tingling gooseflesh, but he didn't take it.

"Keep it," he said. "I have a spare in Claudia's saddlepack."

She smiled back at him and gripped the smoother tighter. She would look it over later — she wanted to understand it and make her own.

"Thank you. Your Night Fury's name is Claudia? Is she female?"

"Yes." He let go of her hand and motioned for her to lead him to the Great Hall. "We picked each other when we were young. I must have been five when I bonded with her."

Five? They bonded with their dragons at such a young age? Was that common? Or simply because he was a lord?

The more she heard the more amazed she was. She wanted to ask him about it, but her dad had already started talking to him about the upcoming introductions, warning him about how unreasonable Spitelout could be, topics Tarstone would jump on, and more. He listened intently, allowing her father to fill him in without interruption.

They reached the Great Hall in a few moments, but she had to stop at the entrance. Toothless tried to follow her. She held up her hands to stop him.

"You're not allowed in here, bud. You know that."

No dragons were allowed in the Great Hall anymore, not since Hookfang apparently trashed the place a few months back. She knew that he didn't do any such thing — it was Mildew, the cabbage farmer up the hill. He used fake dragon claws to frame the dragons for all sorts of mischief. But she had no evidence of that, so Chief Stoick — her own _father_ — didn't believe her, and the dragons now had to stay out of public buildings.

She took a step toward the Hall and Toothless once again pushed his head forward to follow.

"Oh come on, bud!" She groaned. "I know you want to go with me, but there's too many people in there. You'll trip someone! Just wait out here and I'll be back in no time, ok?"

He crooned sadly and slumped off to one side.

Her heart sank. "It'll just be for a little bit."

He curled around himself and laid down, not looking at her. She sighed and climbed the stone steps to the giant doors into the Hall. They stood wide open, as were the windows. Dozens, hundreds of people crowded in. Broad shoulders jostled against thick chests in a forest of people. She glimpsed the sandy blonde hair of Astrid through a gap between Mulch and Rockboil and made her way over there.

" — but when're you going to bring out Bork's dagger?" A shaky, elderly voice demanded. Hiccup groaned. What was Mildew doing down here?

He was talking to Gobber, who was scowling back at him flanked by Astrid and Fishlegs. The bent and elderly Mildew only had his sheep beside him.

"They'll be out when they're out," Gobber said, his hand and hook on his hips. "I still have a week."

"Bah!" Mildew swung his dragon-bone cane in emphasis, barely missing Fishlegs. Mildew's sheep baaed in agreement. "Be proud of your ancestor! He killed a great many dragons."

"Bork only killed dragons in self defense!" Fishlegs interrupted. "He studied dragons!"

"I don't know if we should even have the dagger on display," Astrid added with a look at Gobber. "The archives, sure. But the dagger?"

"You young'uns don't appreciate what that dagger means to Bork's legacy!"

Another emphatic swing that Fishlegs dodged. The sheep added its baa.

"Mildew's right, actually." Hiccup stepped forward, and all four faces turned in surprise. "The dagger is an important part of our history. We can't forget where we came from."

"Hm. Yeah. Well." Mildew grumbled. He looked back at Gobber. "Anyway. When's it going to be on display?"

"Alright, alright, you miserable codger." Gobber shook his head. "I'll have it out tomorrow, okay?"

"That's all I ask!" Mildew said in an almost deferential tone. He swept his cane forward, the immaculate, hanging dragon-teeth clattering against its top. "Come along, Fungus."

He stroked the sheep's wool as the two of them ambled on out of the Hall.

"Wretched old bat." Gobber grumbled as he turned and hobbled further into the hall on his peg leg. It wasn't hard to see where he was going — her father stood taller than any other viking, his red-brown hair standing out like a flag.

"Hey." Astrid sidled up to her. Hiccup now noticed that she had cleaned up, too, washing her face and changing into a white linen shirt that was much finer than her usual knitted wool. She looked rather strange without her spaulders — and did she put something on her hair? It looked shinier than usual.

Astrid took her hand. "What took you so long?"

"Oh." She smirked. "I guess I got caught up cleaning Toothless."

Astrid raised an eyebrow and Hiccup glanced away, admitting, "Kiefer may have helped."

"Ah." Astrid nodded. "Learn anything good from the new arrivals?"

They made their way over to the grand table as she started to answer, but several men and women quickly approached the table carrying stone platters covered in mounds of meat. She stood back and enjoyed the delicious scent as they settled the meals on the table. "I'll tell everyone when we meet tomorrow."

Once they had finished and returned to the back of the Hall, she sat on the bench in front of some yak steak. Across the hall, she caught one last glimpse of Mildew as he disappeared through the main doors. Her chin fell into her hand and she groaned. "You know what would make Bork Week perfect?"

Astrid straddled the bench, then swung her other leg over and answered without looking. "Mildew staying on his farm?"

"Aw." Hiccup laughed. "You guessed it."

With a teasing smirk, Astrid said, "I know you too well."

The crowd parted a moment later her dad and Kiefer approached. Her dad sat across from them with a heavy thud that shook the benches. Kiefer sat beside him and ended up directly across from her. He smiled and nodded, and her face burned as she smiled back. He next nodded at Astrid, his eyes lingering on her for a few moments before venturing on to the stone platters covered in mounds of well cooked red meat.

"What's this?" He smelled the air and shifted away subtly, his smile falling slightly. "It doesn't smell like beef."

"It's yak," Astrid said. "We usually have fish mainly, but for a feast…"

Was he trying to hide his disgust? Oh no. She looked around at the other dishes — potato and cabbage casserole, byaslag cheese… Ooh!

"How about the chicken?" She lifted the plate and held it up for him. "Rockboil does some amazing things with juniper and garlic."

His smile brightened again. "Thank you, Hiccup."

He took a leg, then looked around and added some casserole. Her dad and Astrid were already taking their portions of the yak, and she quickly stabbed a sirloin for herself.

Kiefer cut off a slice of the chicken and took a bite. He nodded his satisfaction. "Quite good."

He looked across the table at the sandy blonde girl beside her. "Astrid, I have heard from several of the villagers that you are one of the most skilled warriors on the island, better than most of the militia. Tell me, what do you think is your best weapon?"

Hiccup glared sidelong at her friend. Astrid paused at his attention before finishing a bite of yak.

"Battle axes. Generally. They, uh." She mimicked hefting one. "They have weight behind them."

"Hmm." He shrugged. "I'm more of a long sword man myself. They're easier to handle on dragonback. But I have noticed a certain preference for axes around here."

"'Course," Stoick cut in. "We've only just started training dragons. Axes worked better when we were fighting them."

Astrid nodded. "That's true. There have been a lot more swords since the armory…" she quieted as if she realized that this wasn't the best incident to mention, but she still finished, "uh, exploded."

He raised an eyebrow. "Was it dragon gas? I believe you call them Zipplebacks."

Hiccup answered for her. "Yes — that's what they're called — but no. It was linseed oil."

Hopefully he wouldn't ask further. The last thing she wanted to tell him about was Mildew's sabotage. Thankfully, he simply nodded, probably assuming it was an accident.

"I see. I did notice you have more weapons then people, and if this is _after_ most were destroyed, well . . . You're having outside troubles, aren't you?"

"We do have some neighbors, yes," Stoick said.

"Some who aren't happy about our dragons," Hiccup added. Her dad glanced a scowl at her, as if she'd said too much.

"Ah. That's a situation we know well." Kiefer turned to Astrid again, earning her another sidelong glare from Hiccup. "I suppose you train to defend against your neighbors now, Astrid?"

"I guess." She shrugged. "It's more about training dragons now, and only sometimes how to fight with dragons by our side."

She looked at Hiccup, as if to offer her a chance to step in. Hiccup looked away to hide her glare, suddenly aware that she was _jealous_. The realization filled her with shame. Astrid was a good friend, it didn't matter that she was garnering the attention of someone so handsome. Astrid was good looking. And strong. And a better fit — she mentally slapped herself. She needed to stop thinking like that.

"But yeah, I suppose," Astrid continued when Hiccup didn't pick up what she tossed her. "The last time Alvin attacked I was entrusted with one of the few weapons we had left."

"They attacked after the explosion?" Kiefer sat forward and clasped his hands together. "That's concerning."

"It was poor timing," Astrid said, "but we managed to drive off the Outcasts. We didn't even use our dragons."

"Kiefer," Hiccup interrupted. "Will you be staying for the Bork Week Festival?"

He met her eye. "I've heard people mentioning that. What is it?"

"Bork was one of our greatest dragon researchers," Hiccup said while Kiefer took another bite of chicken. "He wrote the original Book of Dragons. We've added to it over the generations but his information was invaluable; it saved a lot of lives during the dragon raids. We still use it when we train."

"So you celebrate a man of learning. I like that." He took a moment to finish some chicken. "I've seen many villages that celebrate their greatest dragon hunters, or the men who saved the whole village by killing a dozen 'Death Drums' or whatever. They sometimes have trouble with the transition. I take it the festival is soon?"

"Next week." Hiccup noted to herself that they may want to reconsider the Hairy Hrothgar feast next month. "It starts on Monday, but it will run the entire week. We plan on having a dragon parade to open it."

"Hmm. Sounds fun. I shall have to attend. My plan, as I've told your father, is to stay three weeks. Learning, discussing, negotiating. Then I shall return to give my report to the Queen. Of course, your father has graciously agreed," he gave Stoick a small bow, "which I greatly appreciate, Chief Stoick."

Her dad nodded back.

Kiefer set down his fork. "Your culture is what I am most interested in. With that, I'd like to ask: How did you start training dragons?"

Hiccup looked at Astrid, then her dad. She took a breath, and started the story.


	8. Chapter 7 - How to Train Your Dragon

**Chapter 7**

 **How to Train Your Dragon**

Hiccup wasn't entirely sure _where_ to start. The history of Berk? Probably something a bit closer. How she shot down Toothless? The last thing she wanted to do was give Kiefer any reason to hate her. But . . . she had to tell it as it happened. She couldn't whitewash it.

She looked at the other Hairy Hooligans. Even they didn't know the full story. She had never talked about it. Never explained what happened in the cove.

"You have to understand, we were fighting dragons at the time. Please don't think too harshly of me — of us, I mean."

Kiefer chuckled in a way that put her at ease. "Hiccup, I've heard some barbaric stories from other rider groups, and some of them became our strongest allies. Unless you ripped off Toothless's tail yourself, I don't think you're capable of anything that I would be concerned about."

She swallowed a lump in her throat and tried not to grimace at that.

"Well, it started about a year ago. Bork Week had finished a couple weeks before. At the time we were dealing with dragon raids every few days, and this was one of those days. It was late at night, there was chaos everywhere — but we were used to that. But this night . . .

"Well, we were hit by a Night Fury. So it was a bad night. I tried to help; I always tried. I had built bola launcher since —" She held up an arm and flexed it pathetically. " — I'm no good at fighting. Of course I'd never actually shot it _at_ a dragon and Gobber told me I was just going to get in the way, but . . ."

She stopped. She put her elbows on the table, clasped her hands together and rested her lips on her knuckles. She took a breath, thinking about what came next. The excitement she had felt at the time, and the shame she felt now at the pain she had caused her best friend. She let out the breath.

"I took it out to Wreathed Ridge. I saw a silhouette against the stars, and I shot. Thor himself must have guided the bolas because I hit him. I hit Toothless, I knocked him out of the sky. He fell, he crashed — and I was elated. I had finally helped!" She opened her hands to emphasise her excitement.

"And then a Monstrous Nightmare climbed up the ridge." She looked at her dad without meeting his eye. "I made a mess of things after that. Like I always did. The night kinda got worse. Like it always did. Of course, once it was over, I tried to tell dad about the Night Fury I'd shot down, but no one believed me. I suppose I don't blame them, what with the mess. Plus it was _me_ , they wouldn't believe me if I said I'd killed an ant."

"Well that's not true," Astrid said. "We knew you could kill any kind of bug. Probably not a Terrible Terror, though."

Hiccup's shoulders fell and she glared at her friend. "Thanks."

"It's different now." Astrid smiled in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring. "You've proven that."

"Anyway." Hiccup shook her head and looked back at Kiefer, who gave her his attention. "I spent the rest of the morning looking for him. I had seen him go down around Raven Point, but he was nowhere to be found. I thought maybe he'd gotten away, but then I noticed some broken trees and — there he was. Still tied up in the bola, still breathing. I pulled out my knife and got ready to finish the job. I had to bring his head to Dad, I had to prove to him that I was a Viking . . . prove it to myself.

"He stared at me. This dragon, helpless before me, just stared. He didn't fight or squirm against his bonds. He just looked like he was accusing me. Then he accepted his fate, closed his eyes . . .

"And I couldn't do it."

She looked at her palms. They felt dirty. Tears welled in her eyes and she clenched her hands into fists. "For all I tried to be like the rest of the Hairy Hooligans, as much as I desired to be a Viking, I couldn't even kill a dragon I had downed myself! He was at my mercy, but I was the one to drop the knife.

"I made to leave, but I realized that doing so was as much a death sentence as using my blade. So I picked it up and I cut his bonds. I freed the most dangerous dragon we knew. He jumped up, knocked me to the ground, and pinned me with his claw. He stared at me. Just, stared. Then he opened his jaws, I braced for the fireball, and he just roared.

"Then he left. He turned and he left. I was so shocked, I think I fainted." She smirked and eyed Kiefer. "Unless that's just how bad a Night Fury's breath smells."

Kiefer let out a chuckle, easing some of the tension out of her. "Some dragons. There are species with sleeping breath, but not Night Furies."

Hiccup nodded, noting that she'd need to tell Fishlegs about that. He'd certainly find that interesting. "When I got back home, Dad announced that I was going to start training in dragon fighting. It was exactly what I wanted, but now it filled me with dread. I tried to explain, but Dad had made up his mind, so to training I went. I was almost killed by a Gronckle on my first day."

She sat back and placed her opened hands flat on the table.

"Gobber stopped her, of course. But he emphasised that dragon _always_ kill when they have the chance. And I wondered, why hadn't Toothless?

"After training, I went searching for him. It was a stupid idea. He could fly, what was I thinking? But I found him. His tail had been damaged in the crash. You saw what it looks like. He was trapped in Long Shale Cove."

She thought back to the sun-soaked cove, its beautiful, clear blue pool fed by a small waterfall. She remembered the wild dragon that seemed to soak up the light around it, and yet was so gentle. She found herself smiling at the memory.

"Honestly, I was surprised by how friendly he was when I went into the cove and we bonded."

"How did you bond?" Kiefer sat forward, crossing his hands in front of him. "It's important. Please don't leave out any detail."

"Uh . . . Well . . ." She ran a hand through her hair as she gathered her memories. She realized after a moment that she was able to run it the whole way through. It was so rarely out of its braid that it felt odd to do so. She pulled a plait over her shoulder and looked at it. "I started with a fish."

She looked back at Kiefer. "He was interested at first, but he spotted my knife. So I threw it away." She tossed the hair back over her shoulder. "The knife, I mean, not the . . . Anyway. He took it — the fish, I mean — and that was when I noticed he didn't have teeth. So I started to call him Toothless. Of course he popped his teeth out to chomp the fish in half. Then he sniffed me like he wanted more fish. I told him I didn't have any, so he puked up half the fish and spat it into my lap. He then looked at me like, 'Aren't you going to eat that?'" She let out an uncomfortable sigh. "So I took a bite."

"Ew," Astrid gave her a revolted look. "You ate fish covered in dragon slobber?"

" _Raw_ fish covered in dragon slobber. It seemed to make him happy, though, but when I tried to pet him he ran away. I gave it a couple more tries before it became clear I was starting to annoy him, so I gave up and just sat across the cove drawing in the dirt. Toothless eventually came over and took an interest. He uprooted a sapling and tried his . . . claw, I guess? — at drawing. I have no clue what it was supposed to be, but he drew this giant scrawling line all around me, and when I tried to leave to get a better view, he growled at me when I stepped on the line. But if I stepped _over_ the line, he didn't. So I sort of danced my way out of the drawing, carefully avoiding the line, until I backed into him. He still wouldn't let me pet him. For some reason I decided to look away and put my hand out. My heart was pounding, until his nose pressed into my palm. We bonded."

"So you broke bread, shared a meal, accepted his boundaries, and showed your trust." He ticked off each on his fingers. "Very diplomatic. A good start to dragon training. How did your village react to it?"

"Well . . ." She scratched her head and looked away. Her eyes naturally crossed over the rest of the Hairy Hooligans enjoying the feast. She could remember them as they were, their prejudice and hatred. She could remember looking up at them surrounding the arena, the betrayal and desire to kill when Toothless was found out. How different they were from the joyous, laughing faces surrounding her now.

She turned back to Kiefer but couldn't look at him. "I kept it a secret. I continued training to fight, kept up appearances, but as soon as I had free time I went right back to the cove. I made Toothless his prosthetic — several of them. Like I said, it took a while to get it right. But as I did so, I learned more about him, about dragons, than I had ever learned in the Book of Dragons. I learned about dragonnip, toxic eels, distracting them with light. . . . And I applied all of that to dragon training."

She met his eyes with a smile. "I was suddenly the best in class. Dragons fled before me when I hid eels in my vest, I could direct them into enclosures with the light, I could defeat them unarmed just by scratching under their jaw! Everyone was shocked — and Astrid was not happy."

"Well it was embarrassing!" Astrid shot her a glare, but Hiccup just smirked at her. "I couldn't believe my milk-sister had changed so radically. You had to be cheating, and you were going to cheat me out of best-of-class rights. I was frustrated."

Hiccup looked back at Kiefer. "The best-in-class got to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in front of everyone. It was supposed to be our first kill, our induction into adulthood. But it wasn't an honor I wanted anymore. I just wanted to make it through training without hurting any of them, and without getting killed.

"So on our final day of training, the day our elder would choose the winner, I had every intention of letting Astrid win. She even warned me not to get in the way. But Meatlug — the dragon we were testing ourselves against — flew right up to me. I think she wanted some dragonnip. I couldn't just stand there so I gave her a scratch and she just plopped over. Astrid gave me this _murderous_ look." Hiccup laughed, but her face quickly fell into a frown and she leaned forward and used her fork to pick at what was left of her food. "But it wasn't funny then. The elder decided I won; Gobber was elated; Astrid was about ready to use her axe; and I knew I couldn't do it, I couldn't kill the Monstrous Nightmare. I could have knocked out Hookfang, again, but they'd want me to finish the job.

"So I ran away." She dropped her fork and sat back. "I packed some things, food and waterskins, a necklace that belonged to Mom, and ran for the cove. I was planning on hopping on Toothless's back and heading south. I wonder if I would have found you?"

She smirked at Kiefer, who gave her a little shrug.

"But that's not what happened. When I got to the cove, I was surprised and a bit — well — terrified to find Astrid waiting there. She looked . . . cross as she sharpened her axe."


	9. Chapter 8 - Flight of the Fury

**Chapter 8**

 **Flight of the Fury**

"When Hiccup started winning, I wondered where she got off to during the day." Astrid looked at Kiefer now. "One day I was out by Six Reeds Ridge, taking out my frustration on a tree, when I spotted her. We were far away from town, so I had to wonder what she was doing there. She gave me the slip, but I managed to track her to Long Shale Cove, but then her trail ran cold. I didn't know how she lost me at the time, but I'm sure she went flying went Toothless.

"When she disappeared after stealing best-in-class, I ran to the cove and beat her there. Obviously I didn't stop to pack. So I sat there and waited. Eventually I started sharpening my axe, just to give me something to do. Honestly, I don't know how I missed a one-ton dragon in the cove.

"Night Furies can be sneaky when they want to be." Kiefer shrugged. "What happened when Hiccup arrived?"

"Well, I wanted answers. And I demanded them. She was clearly panicked before she saw me, and when she did she couldn't even form coherent sentences. She admitted to cheating, though she gave me some yak dung about something I don't remember. She was so desperate to drag me back to the village that I knew something was up. I was so angry at her for lying; I pulled my arm back hard enough to make her stumble and punched her in the side, demanding the truth. That's when I met Toothless — he's hard to miss when he roars at you.

"He was just protecting Hiccup. I know. But at the time, all I saw was a very angry dragon bearing down on us. I was . . . I don't know if terrified is the right word. I felt a certain calm if anything. I yelled at Hiccup to run and readied my axe. I knew I was going to die, but I needed to give her time to get away.

"But Hiccup jumped between us. She grabbed my axe and wrenched it out of my hands with a strength I didn't know she had. She faced down the dragon, urged him to calm down, and then . . . introduced us. I just stared. Toothless growled. And I was so confused."

"You looked like I had betrayed you."

"Did I?" Astrid scrunched up her eyebrows. "I don't remember feeling betrayed. I don't remember feeling anything but confused. I think I figured that Stoick needed to know about this, so I ran for the village. I was halfway to Six Reeds Ridge when Toothless caught up to me and, well, caught me. He picked me up, flew to a treetop, and dropped me on its highest branch. I then saw Hiccup on his back and demanded she let me down. She said I had to let her explain."

Kiefer's eyes locked on Hiccup. "You were going to run away. Why did you need to explain? She could have told your secret to the whole village and it wouldn't have made any difference."

"I . . ." Hiccup paused, her mouth agape. Why had she needed to explain? "I don't know. Maybe if it had been Fishlegs or Ruffnut I would have. But I . . . I guess I just needed Astrid to understand. Maybe I wanted her to come with me; be my milk-sister again. Or maybe — if she accepted dragons, we could get everyone else to accept them as well. I don't know. I wasn't thinking about that. I just couldn't stand that look of betrayal. I felt . . . I mean, it would've . . . I couldn't . . . I . . ."

She paused to take a breath.

"I'm not making any sense, am I?"

He just smiled. "You've explained well enough. Continue."

"Well, after we caught up with Astrid and I convinced her to hear us out, she climbed up onto Toothless with me. He . . . He was still mad at her. He went a little nuts. He did spins, loops, twirls, dove into the ocean; he did everything short of fireballing to scare her. The worst part was that I had to participate. He can't fly without me controlling the tail, and 'not flying' while in the air is . . . bad. So I couldn't fight him, other than to beg him to stop."

"He was just after an apology," Astrid said. "Once I gave it to him, the flight smoothed out and I had a chance to look around. I saw Berk as I never had before. Toothless was calm, gentle and . . . powerful. She had him take us to some beautiful places. The sunset from above the clouds, Aurvandil's Fire months before it would arrive at Berk . . ."

"Aurvandil's Fire?" Kiefer looked between them.

"The green and purple ribbons of light that sometimes appear in the sky." Hiccup looked at him as he cocked his head. "It comes down from the north near the end of Devastating Winter. It completely fills the sky."

"I'd like to see that. We don't have anything like that anywhere in Mesa del Cadre."

"It's really pretty." Hiccup smiled. "Imagine a sunset at midnight, but the orange and yellow replaced by green and purple." Rather boldly, she blurted out, "I could take you to see it!"

"I might take you up on that." Kiefer's smile made her heart do a flip. He looked back at Astrid. "I can see how that would be persuasive. Was it enough to convince you?"

"No, what convinced me was how loyal Toothless was. And when I realized that she had earned the loyalty of the dragons in the arena, I thought she could do that with all of them. She could bring an end to the raids and we could live in peace. But then we learned there was something stronger. Something that she couldn't train."

"Toothless was called by something." Hiccup said. "He joined a flight of dragons all carrying fresh kills."

"We were raided that night." Stoick nodded. "I remember it well, people wanted to see Hiccup put her skills to use. I knew she went into hiding after training, she didn't like the fame, so I figured she'd just gotten caught up in that. Although it was odd that Astrid didn't show up to help with the fire brigade."

"Whoa, we were attacked?" Hiccup scowled at her dad. "Why didn't anyone tell me when we got back?"

"Well it wasn't a very big raid. No Night Furies and you didn't — y'know — _collapse the bridge_ , so it slipped my mind. I was more interested in the graduation fight the next day."

Hiccup jerked back as if struck. "Come on, I only did that _once_ , and it was an accident."

She sighed and massaged a temple. Were they ever going to let her live that down? They should look on the bright side: Gobber got good at rock climbing while the bridge was rebuilt.

"Anyway, Toothless followed the flight back to the nest," Astrid said. "We call it Dragon Island now. We found that the dragons weren't eating the food they raided, they were delivering it to this mountain sized dragon we call the Red Death. It even ate one of them when it didn't give it enough food."

"An Alpha," Kiefer said quietly. "We call it _tyranodraconis_ : the Dragon Tyrant. Tyrants have a song that subverts a dragon's will. Even the most loyal dragon, who's been with you since it hatched, will kill you if the Tyrant wills it. The Alphas are the biggest threat we face as dragon riders."

"Big, yeah. They are that," Hiccup said.

"It seemed to notice us," Astrid said, "and Toothless just took off, like he was running from Hel herself. When we got back, I tried to convince Hiccup to tell her father about it, but she was afraid he'd kill Toothless. Not an unreasonable fear — no offense, sir."

Stoick simply grunted.

"Hiccup convinced me to hold off telling him. She said she'd reveal everything to everyone in the fight the next day. I punched her arm for kidnapping me, then hugged her for trusting me." She looked at Hiccup and they smiled at each other over the shared memory.

"What happened the next day?"

Hiccup sighed. " _Dad_ happened."


	10. Chapter 9 - The Red Death

**Chapter 9**

 **The Red Death**

"Astrid met me at the arena the next day. It was supposed to be the big fight, but I had another plan. Astrid wished me luck with everyone, as that's what I really needed."

Hiccup sighed and looked out at the Hooligans again. "They were all cheering for me. It was deafening. And it felt like I was being crushed by the expectation that I would fulfill the lie. I waited for the gate to open — not even a dragon could lift it — and while I waited Dad made a speech."

She looked down at her plate again. She no longer had an appetite, but she couldn't look up — couldn't look at her dad. "All I remember is him telling the crowd how embarrassed he used to be, but how proud he was now. But it wasn't me he was proud of, it was this image that they had assumed about me. I wasn't that image, I was still the embarrassment he announced to the village. It . . . It was hard to hear."

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and she looked up in surprise as Astrid hugged her. She hugged her back. "It's alright, I'm okay."

Astrid pulled back and used a thumb to brush away one of Hiccup's tears. She hadn't even realized she was crying. She caught a glimpse of her dad staring at his plate with his cheeks colored.

"Anyway." She looked back at Kiefer. "Once I got into the arena, Gobber released Hookfang — well, the Monstrous Nightmare, he didn't have a name at the time. I did the first thing I do with all the dragons: I dropped my axe. They always give me this look, like, 'What're you doing?' But now I could hear people saying that from the watchways. But just like with Toothless, it's the first step to proving that I'm not a threat. From there it was easy to calm Hookfang. He even purred.

"I told the other Vikings. I told them dragons weren't what we thought. I explained that they could be peaceful, that Hookfang was proving it. I thought they would be able to see, to understand that we were all wrong. We could save so many lives if we lived together; how many Vikings had died? How many dragons did we kill?

"But it didn't happen. Dad yelled something and slammed his warhammer into the bars over the arena. Hookfang thought he was under attack and panicked. I had to get out of his way. I grabbed a shield and ran. I wanted to calm him, but he was throwing flame at me.

"Somehow Astrid got inside the ring and managed to distract him. She threw a hammer at him (hit him, too) and drew him away from me. Then I see Dad holding the gate up almost effortlessly, yelling at us to get out. Astrid made it, but just as I reached it Hookfang caught me in the chest with his tail, threw me back into the ring, and left a wall of fire where I had been, between me and the gate.

"Then there was this enraged scream — not from Dad, but from Toothless. He had gotten out of the cove. He'd never been able to do that without me on his back. And I don't know how he knew I was in trouble . . . I mean, the cove isn't exactly close by. He blasted his way into the arena and tackled Hookfang. They fought and eventually Hookfang retreated.

"But when I looked around at all the faces in the watchways, all I saw was the look of betrayal." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I had failed. I knew that. And if we'd stayed there, Dad or Spitelout or someone would have killed Toothless. So I jumped on his back and we escaped through the hole he'd created. We returned to the cove, where I had left my packing. I admit I was a bit panicked, and I ended up staying there for far too long. Eventually Astrid caught up to me."

"When Hiccup took off, Stoick turned to me for answers." Astrid put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and squeezed it. "I didn't tell him about the cove. I had promised Hiccup that I wouldn't let anyone find Toothless. I did tell him about how Hiccup had learned to tame dragons, how she used that to become the best-in-class. But then I told him about the nest and he didn't care about Toothless anymore. We've been looking for the nest for generations, and when I said we'd been there, he couldn't hear anything else. I tried to tell him about the Red Death, that it was too big, that we couldn't defeat it. We couldn't even kill a Night Fury, how could we kill a dragon the size of a mountain? But he didn't hear me at all. I tried to tell him that our only chance was with Hiccup's help. I said we should get his daughter back."

Astrid could still hear his voice booming through the Thingstead, "I don't have a daughter!" right before he slammed the door. She felt herself flinch again.

"He disowned her and ordered the fleet to ready. He took one of the Nadders that had been captured the night before, since I had told him only a dragon could find the island. I knew he was just going to get everyone in the fleet killed, so I ran for the cove. I'm lucky that Hiccup stopped to cry —"

"Oh, thanks." Hiccup shot a look at her. "I was trying to gloss over that."

"Yak's left the barn on that." Astrid brushed away another tear from Hiccup's cheek. Flustered, Hiccup dabbed the hem of her dress against her cheeks and sniffled. Astrid returned her attention to Kiefer. "I did try to comfort her, but I still had to deliver the bad news. Though she wasn't too affected by Stoick disowning her."

"I knew he would," Hiccup said. "I had already spilled my tears over it. And with my plan to leave back in effect, what did it matter? I told her I was going, as soon as the sun fell. I figured that it would be better if we could slip off unseen. I asked her if she would come with me."

She looked over at her friend, wondering again if she would have. So much had changed between them. It was like they were little kids again, going on adventures like sisters.

"Obviously you didn't leave," Kiefer said.

"No," Astrid said. "I told her about her dad gathering the fleet. I told her it was different now, that I had slipped up and told him how to get there. She changed in an instant. There was this fire in her eyes, and I knew that she wasn't going to let the Red Death kill him. It was all I could do to convince her not to rush off immediately. I told her we needed help.

"We waited until nightfall, like she planned, but instead of heading south we returned to the Dragon Arena. She taught me how to train dragons. I bonded with my Nadder, and I named her Stormfly. We slept in the pens and the next morning I gathered the rest of our class. Together, Hiccup and I convinced them to learn, and to go along with us to save the fleet. Hiccup was a lot more confident in herself after she trained me, which made it easier to convince them. The hardest was Snotlout, but once Hiccup convinced him he'd get to be a hero, he went along with it. We trained for the rest of the day and, for such a short time, I think we did pretty well. We set off at the end of the day and arrived at dawn the next day."

"It was fine timing, too," Stoick said. He leaned forward, clearing his throat. "The fleet made landfall a few hours before they arrived. The Nadder, Shellquake's his name now, he would twist left or right as we sailed toward the island, and by adjusting our heading to follow his movements, we managed to avoid the rock pillars around the island.

"We set up a defensive line and some catapults, then got everyone ready to attack. I went ahead of the group and found a cave filled with hundreds of dragons. They didn't seem out of the ordinary, so I thought it was going to be a hard fight, but we'd have a decent shot at winning it. So I ordered the attack. But the dragons didn't defend themselves. They ran. Thousands of them swarmed out of every hole in the mountain and just flew away.

"The others thought we'd won, that we'd driven them off. But Shellquake, even bound as he was, desperately bucked and tried to take flight with the others. I realized that it wasn't us they were running from, and I yelled at everyone to make ready.

"That's when the Red Death emerged. It roared like one of Hel's creatures, a deafening sound that shook your bones. Then it smashed its way through the cave that was too small for it, boulders falling around us like rain, and I knew that I had made a mistake. Astrid was right — _Hiccup_ was right. We couldn't defeat it. I ordered a retreat around the island so that it wouldn't be drawn to our ships, but it still smashed them. Gobber and I tried to draw it off the other way, so at least some of our people would survive. I prayed to Odin to protect the others, to protect my daughter, and maybe smile upon our final fight. And he smiled upon us. He gave me my daughter back. She did me proud."

Her dad looked at her with a genuine grin. She smiled, her chest feeling much lighter.

"When we got there," Hiccup said, "we could see the Red Death chasing Dad and Gobber. I had Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins distract it. Astrid and I separated to make sure our people would keep well away from the fight. I ordered Dad to keep away from the dragon, to listen to me for once in his life, and — shockingly — he did. Once we had regrouped, I set about making it mad. Getting it to follow me.

"I succeeded pretty well at that. It spread its wings, each as large as three ships, and took flight to chase Toothless and me. Of course, I knew we couldn't take it in a straight fight, so I drew it into the fog around the island. Toothless was much faster, much more nimble, and with the fog he was invisible. The Red Death was not — it was so massive we could see its shadow through the fog. I used that to our advantage.

"We hit it hard and fast. Swooped from above and put fireballs into its wings. Tore half a dozen holes into them. Finally it had enough and just burned the fog. I saw its form twisting about throwing orange flames all around it, until this wall of fire swept over us. Toothless took the brunt of it. He was fine, but it had also caught the prosthetic on fire. We only had one chance.

"We flew toward it and got its attention, then dove past and made for the ground. The Red Death followed us. We didn't dive too fast — we didn't want to lose it. We must've been halfway to the ground when I heard this great rush of wind, rather like a storm, as it opened its jaws and drew in an enormous breath, readying to flame us anew. It was the moment I had been waiting for, and at just the right time I gave the signal.

"Toothless spun around and shot a fireball straight down its gullet."

"Ah!" Kiefer pounded the table and sat back with a grin. "You shot its open gas sack! That must've torn up its insides. Dragons aren't exactly hardened against fire _behind_ their spark tongue."

"Exactly!" Hiccup's face pinked at his recognition. "I noticed that when Toothless got into a spat with a Terrible Terror. But that wasn't all!

"Moments later, we emerged from the fog cover. We were exactly where I wanted us to be — over the beach. Dad and the rest of the Hooligans were well out of the way. Toothless opened his wings and slowed, and the Red Death tried to do the same, but . . ."

Kiefer's eyes widened. "The holes! Ingenius, his wings were shredded."

"Yes! It couldn't fly, and, well, like I said, 'not flying' while in the air is bad. It hit the ground and exploded! But as Toothless tried to avoid the collapsing carcass of the Red Death, I realized that his prosthetic wasn't responding. The control line must have burned through or something, I didn't really have time to look. Its bone tail struck us, and I was thrown off. That's the last thing I remember before waking up back home with Astrid over me, wiping my head with a cloth. Toothless was laying next to my bed, dragons had been accepted into the village . . . the only thing that told me it wasn't some fever dream was when Astrid pointed out that I'd lost my leg."

"I had noticed that." Kiefer nodded, looking at the table as if to look through it at her prosthetic. "It's quite a bit more complicated than the second in command's. Gobber, I believe?"

"Yeah, it's made to latch into the pedals and it's got a spring to absorb hard landings. I may have made improvements on Gobber's design." She smirked. "You don't seem bothered by it."

"I've seen people maimed by work and war. They — you — deserve respect for enduring." He turned to look at Astrid. "What happened while she was unconscious?"

Astrid looked at Stoick, and it was he who answered. "We didn't see how she got to the ground. We saw her and the Red Death breach the clouds and the fireball, but I lost sight of her and Toothless. Once the flames had settled, I ran to the site to search for her. I found Toothless, but she wasn't on his back. If she wasn't with him . . . I was sure she couldn't survive the fall. I thought I lost her. I'm not ashamed to say that I broke down and cried. I apologized to the dragon and Hiccup's ghost for everything I'd done.

"Toothless . . . Forgave me. He opened his wings; he'd caught Hiccup and brought her to the ground. She was burned, but alive. I thanked Toothless and we took her to the other wounded from the earlier fight. Her leg had been crushed, likely when she was knocked off her dragon's back, so the healer had to remove it. The rest of her burns were minor — easily treated."

"You weren't the one who spent two weeks changing bandages and applying the lotion, Sir," Astrid said. "But they were healed by the time she woke."

"Of course, you're right. You took the job of being her nurse, and you did well at it." He nodded his thanks. "After that, we were trapped on the island. The Red Death had smashed and burned most of our ships. Shellquake had been rescued and Astrid taught Flurbold to bond with him. Dragons started returning to the island now that the Red Death was dead, and half our warriors ended up bonding with dragons. Most of us flew to Berk on their backs while the wounded were loaded onto the few ships we could make seaworthy again."

"People saw us coming in riding dragons," Astrid said, "even our greatest warriors with dozens of dragon kills were astride their backs. The story of how dragon riders saved our people spread through the village. People were cautious, of course, but it really helped everyone to accept dragons and by the time Hiccup woke up . . ."

"Yeah, that was a shock." Hiccup looked at Astrid. "I mean, losing my leg was a surprise, but just something that happens. Opening the front door and seeing the village overrun by friendly dragons? I mean, Dad and Gobber were working _with_ a couple Monstrous Nightmares. I'm still not entirely sure I've woken up. But by now most people have accepted dragons.

"The war is over."


	11. Chapter 10 - Lessons of the Mesa

**Chapter 10**

 **Lessons of the Mesa**

Kiefer sat back in the bench, pressing his steepled fingers against his lips. He studied Hiccup and Astrid in turn. Hiccup put her hands on the table, waiting nervously for Kiefer's reaction. She had admitted to trying to kill Toothless, and actually killing the Red Death. Surely a city of dragon trainers wouldn't like people who killed dragons. Would they accept her killing a Dragon Tyrant?

Finally he spoke.

"Thank you for the story, Hiccup. It was enlightening. I have heard similar tales. An injured dragon saved by a young human, brought as proof to their people, and their eventual acceptance. I consider this to be a promising start. There are worse ways to train a dragon."

He opened his palms. "Let me tell you a story about a woman by the name of Cairon the Kind. She wasn't a dragon trainer, or even a dragon slayer. She was an herbalist. She used plants to create salves to treat wounds and burns that soldiers received while defending the town from dragon raids. She really wanted nothing to do with dragons.

"But one day she was away from town, gathering herbs and seeds when she happened upon a grass with a curiously minty smell."

Hiccup sat forward. "Dragon nip?"

He nodded. "She didn't know it at the time, obviously. She thought it might make a good tonic, so she gathered as much as her pockets could hold."

Hiccup snorted. "Good way to attract dragons."

"Indeed it was. She had traveled maybe half an hour before a dragon set upon her. It came at her, jaws wide, like it was going to gobble her up. She stumbled back in fear, but its teeth merely grazed her, tearing at her coat and pulling it off. The dragon tore it apart as she ran away. But when she looked back, she saw the dragon rolling around in the tattered remains and the grass she'd collected.

"She thought it would make for a good distraction, so she returned later with a leather bag and collected more, making sure she got some seeds. When she got back, she set her herbology skills to work on the plant extracted the essence of nip."

"Oh, there's an idea," Hiccup said. "The extract must be more powerful than regular dragon nip."

"Quite. She put some of the extract into thin clay bottles, and she convinced the militia leader to try them during the next raid. She explained that they should be able to attract dragons into ambushes. But you know the properties of nip; not only did it attract them, it also put them into a haze. The stronger the extract, the more of an effect it has.

"After using it, the militia wanted more of the potion and she provided it. She was hailed as a hero, and her king awarded her a Ladyship. She asked that they capture some of the dragons so that she could study the effect of the extract. She kept them sedate and found that she could train them to be tame. Soon dragons became pets. They are beautiful, majestic creatures, but they were thought to be as animals, no better than cattle.

"Years later, she was working with a _hyacaelum_ , one of those multi-colored, rather birdlike dragons that are wandering around, but she hadn't made him docile with the nip yet. She bonded with the dragon, as you did with Toothless. And with that bond, she came to see dragons in a different light. He was smarter and more loyal than any other _hyacaela._ More so than any other dragon they had tamed, even. He was able to think, plan, and act on his own.

"Dragons are more than animals. She couldn't see that when they were in a drug induced haze, but when they gave their loyalty freely? They are feeling, intelligent creatures that could be more than a decoration. They had a will all their own.

"When she realized that she'd been stealing that will from them, rendering them dull and dumb, she was horrified. She went to the king, explained everything. Of course, his first duty was to his citizens, but she had his ear. He gave her a chance to prove that dragons could be trained, and his son, Prince Santin, would become her apprentice.

"Santin was enthralled by the dragons. He quickly surpassed Cairon in bonding with and training dragons, and easily convinced his father to end the use of nip on dragons. The citizens of the town learned to train dragons, and as they became more comfortable, they accepted dragons.

"When Santin ascended the throne, he declared that we had to atone for our earlier treatment of dragons, and that it was now our duty to save lives, both human and dragon. We decided the best way to do that was to teach our neighbors on how to train dragons, and soon an alliance of these Dragon Riders banded together into Mesa del Cadre. Our reach expanded, and we continued to teach, to train, and to ride.

"But it didn't last. Some of those we taught twisted our methods. They terrorized hatchlings, intimidating them into accepting human dominance. They used a Tyrant's song to subvert dragons' wills. They didn't bond with dragons, they enslaved them.

"We protested, of course. Dragons are partners, not slaves." Hiccup sat up at that. "King Santin demanded they cease this perversion. They refused, but were not yet ready to attack us. They turned their dragons to raiding other villages, those that hadn't been taught to train yet. They were overrun easily; their methods to defend against warriors or wild dragons were worthless against riders.

"We had to act, and it was thus that the first Training War began. A long and bloody conflict that saw dozens of villages and nests destroyed in flame and steel. We had allies, but they had slaves. The war put such a strain on our alliance that we had to reform into an empire to hold strong against the Rogues.

"Then, we met a new tribe of riders. People we hadn't taught, who had learned to train on their own. We became allies, learned from them, and they provided us with new species of dragons. Combined with Cadrian experience, this alliance brought the wind to our backs, and we managed to push the Rogues out and eventually defeat them.

"But we had been taught an expensive lesson: People cannot be given the answer, they must earn it. Now we only make contact with those who have discovered dragon training on their own. How you did so has become our most important gauge into your potential as a friend and ally. You," he looked at Hiccup, "have that potential. To us, at least."

"Well, I can't speak for the village, but a new ally would be nice," Hiccup said with a glance at her dad, but he didn't try to stop her. "We haven't really made it a secret that we train dragons and some of our neighbors have tried to steal our knowledge. Some have gone so far as to kidnap Snotlout and me for our knowledge."

Kiefer's eyebrows scrunched. "Isn't that the cousin with delusions of grandeur?"

"Well, they thought he was me," Hiccup said. "Apparently they were under the impression that the Dragon Master had the strength of a dozen men."

She flexed her arms pathetically and laughed. "I really don't. They realized their mistake once he opened his mouth, though."

Kiefer laughed but then his face fell into a frown. "Do you have any delivery dragons that I could dispatch to my camp?"

She cocked her head. "We don't have delivery dragons."

"You should look into training those small ones that I saw on people's shoulders." He twisted around and called out over the crowd, "Wran!"

The weasely looking man quickly approached, his pencil at the ready.

"Go tell Sergeant Seylie I want semi-hourly patrols of the island. We may have a Chester. Report only."

He wrote in his notebook as Kiefer spoke, then nodded and left the Great Hall in a rush. Kiefer turned back around, stopping to look at Stoick.

"Apologies, Chief Stoick. I should have checked with you first. The patrol is to ensure the safety of my camp. I will of course send a runner if we see anyone approach."

"Well, if you don't attack them . . ." Stoick stroked his beard and then nodded. "I suppose it'll be fine."

"What's a Chester?"

Keifer looked back at Hiccup.

"Chester the Cunning. A couple generations after the Training War, we had become a bit more lax, people began to realize we had the ability to tame dragons. Chester snuck into one of our outlying dragon conservatories and stole our knowledge. With just a few bonded dragons he conquered his own village and attacked one of our allied trainers. The Cadrian military stepped in and put a swift end to his little bandit gang. He taught us to take such threats seriously."

"And if you spot someone?" Astrid said.

"That depends on your chief." He looked at Stoick. "We would be happy to advise you should you request it. I don't have enough guards to help in a more military capacity, except perhaps for a few key strikes."

"I appreciate the offer. We'll discuss it with my advisors."

Kiefer nodded.

"Would have been nice to have you around when the armory exploded," Hiccup whispered to herself.

"I'm honored by your trust." Kiefer put a hand on his chest. "But I would hope you would be more careful of who to depend on, as you hardly know me. The knowledge you possess is a potent weapon. If you trust too freely, you may be arming your enemy."

"It's a good lesson." Stoick stroked his chest-length beard. "One you should learn as a leader, Hiccup. Though I'm surprised you would ask us to be skeptical of you."

"I can handle skepticism, Chief. I want us to form a partnership that will last. Failing that, my mission will be a success if you learn to keep dragon training safe. I expect to have to earn your trust."

Astrid snorted and shot a glare at Hiccup. "Remember Heather, Hiccup?"

Hiccup groaned and laid her head on the table with a thump. "Yes, that memory exists."

"I take it Heather couldn't be trusted?" She heard Kiefer say.

"She was sent to spy on us. I tried to tell Hiccup that something seemed off about her, but she didn't listen."

"She was very convincing," Hiccup moaned into the table.

A warm hand gently pat her shoulder from across the table. She looked up at Kiefer giving her a reassuring smile. "Learn from it. Mistakes happen to teach us. You now understand that a moment of carelessness can spell disaster. Take what you learn and teach your riders. They need to understand as well as you do."

She nodded with half a smile as she sat up. "I will." She shot a look at Astrid. "And Snotlout was even more convinced that I was."

"Heather was pretty and Snotlout is . . . Snotlout. He was thinking with his —"

"Alright, alright!" Her face warmed. "I got it, thanks."

Kiefer finished his Yak meat and pushed himself back. "Well, thank you for the meal and the discussion. I need to return to my camp and log the day's events. Chief Stoick, I would like to meet with you again tomorrow morning, if that's acceptable."

"Of course. I will assemble my advisors and the elder, and send Gobber to retrieve you."

Kiefer agreed and stood. Hiccup watched as he met his guard and left the Great Hall.


	12. Chapter 11 - The Talk

**Chapter 11**

 **The Talk**

Once Kiefer had left, Hiccup poked at her yak steak for a bit longer before giving up. Her dad had already gone to talk to his advisors, so he didn't notice her slipping off. Astrid did, but she simply waved goodbye as she continued her meal.

Toothless hopped around her excitedly as soon as she had passed through the massive doors. She laughed, scratched his ear flaps, and then pushed him to go ahead of her. She tried to follow him but found she couldn't keep up in the dress. Eventually she realized she could hitch the hemline off the ground to keep it from getting in her way and dashed across the hill as the last dregs of the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the sky in a fiery orange.

As soon as she climbed the stairs into her room she practically tore the dress off and threw it into her trunk. Now free of the leg-trapping cloth, she stretched her arms toward the ceiling and danced around the room for a bit before retrieving a linen shirt and pulling it on. She tied the front up loosely and plopped herself down on the windowsill overlooking Black Skull Beach.

Only three of the Cadrian Night Furies were outside the lean-tos. Several large fire pits dotted the beach, casting flickering shadows across the camp on one side and the ocean waves on the other. One of the Night Furies laid curled half-way round a fire pit, while the other two gallivanted around the beach trying to pounce on each other.

Hiccup watched the pair as she brushed her hair and started weaving it back into a braid. One of them got too close to the third and it bared its teeth, its eyes turning to slits, and its tail flicked in obvious annoyance. The one that had got too close scrunched up, arching its back so much it became a U, and backed away sideways. Once it had slinked far enough away, it pounced at the offended dragon and then ran away playfully. Its target didn't engage, though; it flinched but turned back to the fire. The other two didn't seem to mind as they went back to playing with one another. Hiccup tied off her braid with a bit of cloth.

"Oooh!" She leaned out the window as she caught sight of the auburn ponytail of Kiefer approaching the camp with his guard in tow. The two playing Night Furies dashed over and danced circles around him. He laughed and made some playful moves at them before he straightened and waved at one of his men in camp. The man threw a leather ball larger than a man's head over the dragons. Kiefer held the ball out to them, wiggled it, then reared back and threw it toward the ocean. The closer one watched it fly over its head while the other immediately chased after it, using the other's head as a springboard to take flight after it. The first one quickly gave chase and tackled the flier just as it caught the ball.

Hiccup smiled at the Night Furies romping in the sunset. This was what Toothless was missing out on, something he deserved. He'd have it soon enough, maybe even with those dragons down there.

Kiefer, too, smiled as he watched the two play. Hiccup took in his face and expression, his body and stance. Something stirred inside her, an excitement she couldn't quite place as she studied him from afar. Soon he moved on and the dragon resting around the fire stood and nuzzled up to him. He pat its shoulder affectionately as they continued into a lean-to. That must have been his Night Fury, Claudia.

The lean-to lit up suddenly with a light that was far too bright to be candlelight. His shadow moved as if he were sitting someplace. He had said he needed to log the days events; her mind wandered as she imagined him opening his log, finding a writing implement, writing about her —

"Hiccup."

"Dad!" She jumped, having to catch herself on the sill so she wouldn't fall out. She spun around to stare at the massive Viking chief standing at the head of the stairs, wondering how she failed to hear him coming up.

"Keeping an eye on our guests?" He said, motioning at the window without further entering her room.

"Uh — sure." Not exactly, but close enough.

He took a step into the room, just far enough to put his hand on her writing desk. "You looked good today." He smiled pridefully. "You're growing into a fine woman. Your mother would be proud."

She looked away, warmth invading her cheeks and a smile returning to her lips. "Thanks, Dad."

The cooling evening air clashed with her cheeks and she realized she was looking back at the beach again. The two Night Furies sat at the line where water met sand, staring out at the ocean. The sky lit up as one shot a small fireball out over the waves. The other, holding the leather ball in its foreclaws, gave the first a nonplussed look and shot a larger, brighter fireball over the water.

Hiccup turned around and moved to her desk, retrieving her notebook and pencil. She quickly started noting down the behavior — new, unique dragon research! She was about to pick up the book and return to the window when she noticed her dad was still standing there.

"So . . ." He said at her curious look. "What do you think of Kiefer?"

Hiccup's shoulders fell and she gave him a sore look. "Really? Now? Ugh."

She dropped her forehead to the table, smacking it into the pages of her notebook a bit harder than she intended. This was, what, the third when-will-you-get-married-I-want-grandkids poke he'd given her today?

"Couldn't you wait until tomorrow? You could have set a record for fewest times in a week you've asked me to get a husband."

"This is serious, young lady!" He took another step around her desk, the floorboard creaking under his weight. "You're an adult now! And as Gobber keeps reminding me, I won't always be around to protect you. Since you have no interest in taking up an axe to defend yourself —"

"I have Toothless!" She shot up and turned to glare at him, now hunched over so he didn't tower over her. Said dragon's head popped up over her bed from where he was resting on his slab.

He didn't even pause.

" — you _need_ someone who can protect you in ways dragons can't!"

Hiccup crossed her arms. "Astrid's offered to protect me."

"And when she has children of her own to protect?" His look became even more grave. He sighed heavily. "Hiccup, I'm thinking of your future. We both know that you have no interest in succeeding me as Chief. You can't even control five teenagers! Your talents are with your inventions and dragons."

"So I need to marry because you need an heir?" She slammed a hand into the table. "What, are you going to start marriage negations without my okay?"

"Of course not!" Stoick threw a hand in the air as he straightened.

"Good." Hiccup said quietly. "'Cause that always worked so well in the sagas."

She noticed Toothless still watching them and motioned for him to lie back down. He did so only after giving Stoick a wary glance.

Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose and let out another breath. "Look, you've said yourself you're not interested in any of your prospects here. Kiefer's . . . He's not bad, is he?"

She looked away, afraid of what answer her expression might give to that question. She hadn't been lying when she said she didn't like any of the men on the island. She liked men, but she didn't like any of them personally. Still, she had told him that (yelled it, really) in a bout of frustration. She just wanted him to back off. She hadn't thought _that_ through, though; she didn't realize that he would force her to go on political visits with him to try and find someone at another village.

Now, though, someone had to come to her. Someone she really did find interesting. But at this point she really didn't want to admit it to her dad.

"I guess he's nice." She hardened her face and met his eye. "Why do you like him so much? Doesn't he want you to be skeptical?"

"I know how chiefs and those in power think, Hiccup. It's my job." He straightened again. "I know when they're after something, and I certainly know when they're planning something dangerous. Kiefer isn't. He's dodged a question or two, but overall he's been refreshingly forthright. He's no Dagur or Alvin, and certainly no Drago or Malificar."

Hiccup raised her eyebrows, as she didn't even know who those last two were.

"He hasn't even issued a veiled threat like the chief of Hopeless would have by now. He knows he doesn't have to. He's smart, and he's strong. Yet he's more your size, so he won't break you —"

"Break me?" Hiccup flinched and gave him a flustered look.

" — and his status is suitable for the daughter of a chief. Just . . ." He put a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her, but it was so heavy that it made her buckle. "Think about it, okay?"

With that he finally turned and left the room. Hiccup stared at her notebook for a few more minutes as she thought about it. Finally she stood rested her head against the windowsill as she looked back out at the beach below.


	13. Chapter 12 - Claudia and the Lean-To

**Chapter 12**

 **Claudia and the Lean-To**

A couple guards moved through the dark of the Cadrian camp. The large fire pits continued to burn to keep the arriving night away, but the guards still carried torches with them as they moved out to the perimeter. A guard stopped at a standing torch and lit it, the glow throwing a circle of light on the sand. He moved on to the next, and the next, marking out the edge of the camp. Yet the light from Kiefer's lean-to outshone them all.

She thought about what her dad said. She wouldn't mind, really, but if Kiefer liked anyone on the island it was clearly Astrid. The way he looked at her, the way he gave her attention . . . He talked about her about her prowess as a warrior, called her pretty . . . And why wouldn't he like perfect Astrid? She _was_ pretty, she _was_ a tough warrior. She was smart and good with dragons. She even knew her way around the house and could be a nurse when the situation called for it!

What hope did Hiccup have? Tiny, runty Hiccup. She wasn't pretty. She didn't know how to dress. Her frame was too slight, she didn't have much up top. She was clumsy and couldn't cook. So what if she was the Dragon Master? What did that mean to an empire that had fought entire wars over dragon training?

She should just back off and let Astrid have him. Oh how her chest hurt at that thought!

She followed the light of his tent, cast all the way across the beach and to the ocean. The pair of Night Furies lazed there, blending more and more into the world as the sky turned to pitch.

"Hey Bud?" She called over her shoulder. Toothless's head once again popped up over her bed. She smiled and nodded out the window. "Want to go meet the Night Furies?"

It didn't take long to reach the beach. She hadn't yet taken his saddle off for bed, so all she had to do was throw on her bearskin vest and she was able to fly him most of the way down. She landed a good fifty feet from the perimeter — she didn't want to concern them — and approached on foot.

"Hold!" A gruff woman's voice called out as she entered the torchlight. She stopped immediately and waited as one of the blue-clad soldiers stepped out of the shadows on the other side; her hand rested on the hilt of her longsword. "Who goes there?"

Hiccup held her hands up and stepped further into the light. "I'm Hiccup. Daughter of Chief Stoick. I . . ." She glanced at the Night Furies, then at Kiefer's tent. " . . . I'm here to speak with Lord Kiefer."

The guard's angular eyes gave her an incredulous once over before switching to Toothless just behind her. Although the guard was armed and armored much like the one that had followed Kiefer on his tour, she wasn't wearing a facemask, so she could see the guard's pointed face shift from suspicion to curiosity to understanding. Her hand fell away from her swords and she nodded. "Follow me, then."

As she crossed the line of torches, it suddenly dawned on her that she was meeting with Kiefer privately and the crickets in her chest awoke. She took a breath to steady herself. Even though she had wanted to meet the Night Furies, she wanted this, too.

"Lord Kiefer," the guard called into the lean-to just after they arrived. "I have a young lady here to see you."

"What?" Kiefer sounded surprised. The shadows shifted inside. "Who?"

"A Lady Hiccup, my lord."

"Just Hiccup," she murmured to herself. The guard didn't notice or ignored her.

There was a pause. For a moment she worried about imposing on him. What if he wasn't finished writing his log? Her eyes fell to the sand as worry gripped her.

"Show her in then."

The guard stepped back and motioned her forward. She stepped into the light of the lean-to and found Kiefer smiling pleasantly at her from where he was sitting beside his desk.

"Hiccup. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He nodded at the guard, who quickly left. Hiccup couldn't formulate a response at first. She glanced around at the cot on the opposite side of the lean-to, then at the back where the sleek Night Fury laid — Claudia.

Claudia was even sleeker than Toothless. He face was thinner and her body more tapered, and she was a little smaller, too. She lifted her head and fixed her golden eyes on Hiccup, making her feel small and intrusive.

"Uh, I . . ." Hiccup started as she tried to look back at him. Toothless followed her into the light as she failed to think of an excuse to visit him.

Suddenly, Claudia shot to her feet, her eyes fixing on Toothless. She stood as tall as she could, letting out a growling warble as she bared her teeth. Just as quickly, Toothless crouched flat and showed his toothless gums. He crooned softly.

Hiccup's eyes darted between them in alarm before she moved between them, a hand held high to protect her dragon. What had Toothless done to make Claudia threaten him so?

"Oi, Claudia!" Kiefer stood and shoved his dragon's head. She lowered herself and looked at him, chastened. "No flirting! Save it until we get home."

She rolled her eyes but Kiefer set a glare on her. She finally laid back down. She still watched Toothless out of the corner of her eye, baring her teeth — or was she grinning?

"Sorry about that. Night Fury drakenas can be a bit forceful."

Hiccup looked back at her own dragon, who seemed to relax a bit. "Drakenas?"

"Right, sorry. Drakena and drako. Like mare and stallion, or ewe and ram."

She nodded, still feeling out of sorts. She would have to tell that one to the Academy. "She was flirting with my 'drako'?"

He laughed. "Yeah, she probably thinks he's exotic. Don't you babe?"

Claudia warbled but didn't take her eyes of Toothless.

"So what can I do for you?"

She looked back at him again. She finally noticed he wasn't in his armor anymore, instead wearing a fine, shiny blue nightshirt of some kind and loose trousers. Her worry about a possible dragon fight drained away as the crickets in her chest became skittish again. A thought entered her head and she shouted it before she could stop to think.

"Aurvandil's Fire!"

She paused. Not a bad idea!

"Uh, I was wondering — i-if you wanted to see it. I can show you. Uh, it should be in about an hour. And it's an hour north right now."

"So we'll be just on time." He nodded in approval. "Sounds like fun. Let me grab my gear."

He stepped over to his leather armor hanging on what looked like tree branches fashioned into a crude armor-stand. He undid his belt and laid it on the desk, then started to pull off his shirt. He glanced over at her, then nodded outside. "Would you mind, Hiccup?"

"Huh? Oh!" She spun around to observe a bit of propriety. Even so, she couldn't help but imagine what was happening behind her as she listened to the shuffle of cloth, the clink of metal rings, the stretch of leather; Images of his toned body flew through her head. Visions of his muscles rippling his olive skin sent a weird warmth deep below her belly; she shifted her weight to her other leg as she searched for something else to think about.

Toothless was still acting oddly. He was fixated on the other Night Fury — the drakena. Drakena and drako. Good words. Of course, he was a drako tilting his head at a drakena, so he must be feeling much the way she was, looking at someone so . . .

She turned and fixated on the beach ahead of her as her cheeks warmed against the cooling air. Huh. The light was unlike anything she'd seen. It was clearly coming from the desk side of his lean-to.

"What's making that light?" She called over her shoulder.

"It's a lamp," he said in a distracted voice. "A dragon breath mixture warms the scales of an _illuminavortus_ — uh, how to translate that? Something like Luminous Horror. You don't see them much past the Blinkered Bog, but they use the light of their scales to blind their prey."

She listened intently. She couldn't help but crave the knowledge of generations of dragon trainers. "Do you get the scales after they've shed?"

"No, those don't have enough light left in them. Since we feed them, they don't really need the scales, so we harvest them. They grow back, of course."

The light went out suddenly and she turned around before she could stop herself. Unfortunately, he was fully clothed already. Fortunately, rather. Whatever. He nodded at the lamp, a brass canister connected by a small tube to a ring of grey, pointy scales that were still glowing faintly. "What do you call the two-headed dragons? Zipplebacks? Their breath makes up the base of most of these mixtures. There's also some Luminous Horror breath and another dragon's, but it's all kept in this canister. A small stream, lit by a bit of flint, provides the heat."

"That's ingenious. I've thought about trying to capture Zippleback breath, but I haven't figured out how. I've never seen workmanship like that."

"I'll pass along your compliments." He smirked. He turned around and motioned at his drakena to follow. "Come on, babe. Let's watch the sky light up."


	14. Chapter 13 - Aurvandil's Fire

**Chapter 13**

 **Aurvandil's Fire**

Under the glow of a waxing moon, the pair of Night Furies and their riders drifted into the chilly north wind. The mottled reflection off the ocean lit them again from below. Kiefer had watched her operate the prosthetic fin for a little while, and seemed impressed, but now he was watching the sky around them while she couldn't help but sneak looks sidelong at him. She flew with her riders daily, but she was now nervous in a way she'd never felt before.

Talking usually helped to pass the ride more comfortably. Maybe she should say something? But what could she talk about?

"How was the flight?" She said. Gods, was that the best she could come up with?

"From the Mesa?" He looked at her and she enjoyed his gaze. "It was long. Even with Night Fury speed and endurance, it took over a week. We stayed at the village of Hopeless yesterday, if that tells you anything."

"I've been to Hopeless!" She said with a smile. "Used to take us twelve days by ship. They have this really good pie they serve on our diplomatic visits."

"That they did," he nodded. "Kind of an almondy thing, right?"

"That's the one. I thought you said you didn't make contact with non-riders?"

"We don't, officially. We told the people of Hopeless we were simple travellers." He motioned at Claudia. "We kept our dragons out of town and out of sight."

Hiccup nodded. It might be a good idea to adopt such precautions. That's what they did when the Berserkers visited after all. Even Oswald the Agreeable wouldn't have been agreeable to renewing their peace treaty if he knew they were dragon riders. His son, Dagur the Deranged, would be even less so, especially considering how he had 'succeeded' his father. She couldn't imagine doing that to her own father.

"Do you have any family?"

"Oh, certainly. Mother is the former Lady Cairon della Rosa, namesake of Cairon the Kind. She retired and passed on her title to my elder sister, Lady Ginevra della Rosa. Ginevra took my ancestral lands — _inherited_ our ancestral lands when she did so. I had to earn my title, Lord della Pagina, Patron of the Sothali Quarry, through service to the Queen."

She nodded, though she noticed he'd forgotten someone.

"And your dad?"

He paused for a moment and looked away. He looked back with a smirk. "Father's announced as the former Lord-Consort Iomes della Pagina. He and Mother stay at our summer villa in the ancestral vineyard."

"Lord- _Consort_? What's that mean?"

His smirk turned to a frown and he sighed. "Going to make me say it? He's a plebeian. He has no title of his own."

"I didn't mean to pry . . ."

"I understand," he said curtly. He took a deep breath and put on another smile. "What about you? Any other family?"

"Just my father." She shrugged. "My mother died when I was a baby. Apparently I was attacked by a dragon, gave me this scar," she pointed at her chin, "and Mom died protecting me. Dad never remarried."

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine; it must have been difficult to be raised solely by your father."

"Well, Aunt Helga helped raise me," she made a dismissive gesture, "you know, when Dad was too busy or there were . . . girl things. She was my wet-nurse, actually. She was just weaning Astrid when Mom died. She's not literally my Aunt, but she might as well be. She and Gobber were the only ones that didn't get on my case when I screwed things up."

"Oh? I didn't realize Gobber was married."

"Huh? Oh! No, no." She laughed. "They aren't together. Gobber's my trade-master. He's more laid back and . . . I guess he just got me. Aunt Helga was just . . . always kind."

"I see. What about her husband, then?"

Her eyes fell and she studied the back of Toothless's head for several seconds. Long enough that Claudia tilted her head to look at her with a compassionate eye. Kiefer clearly picked up on her discomfort as well, uttering a "Sorry," before she could answer.

"It's alright. I don't remember much about him. He died when I was five or six. I suppose she's been mourning him just like Dad's been mourning Mom. She's always saying he was the reason she moved to Berk in the first place."

He sighed. "The tragedy of dragon wars. I've seen it at other villages; it's made the acceptance of dragons difficult at times. You've had your share of personal tragedy, and yet . . ."

His eyes moved to Toothless.

"Yes, but Grimclod wasn't killed by dragons. He was . . ." She frowned and wished she hadn't said anything. But she had already started so she drew a deep breath and released it before continuing. "He was murdered. Something about a yak, I think. I don't really remember the details. I just remember that the murderer was cast out."

Kiefer squeezed his lips together and gave a curt nod. "There's some justice. Sometimes people are worse than dragons. I remember during my first month as a patrician there was a quarrel between some of the workers and one ended up dead. I had to sit in judgement of the man who murdered him. I learned some things and made some changes to how the quarry ran. But that's enough about such gruesome things!" He slapped his saddle and grinned at her. "How about your training? What have your riders been learning?"

"Oh, so much." She put on a smile and tried to put the thoughts of Astrid's dad out of her mind. "We've mostly been preparing for the festival. I told you about the parade. But we've also been working on dragon calls! Here, watch this!"

She cupped her hand over mouth and bellowed out a growling howl of a Night Fury call. Both Claudia and Toothless turned their heads sharply. Kiefer gripped at his saddle and pushed a toe into Claudia's side. "Whoa, it's alright Claudia." Once she'd straightened out her flight, he looked at Hiccup. "Quite a convincing call. Best not to use it while riding a Night Fury."

"Sorry." She looked away abashedly. She desperately tried to think of something to say to dispel the awkwardness. "What's your sister like?"

"Ginevra?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, like I said, she's the new Lady della Rosa. She's eleven years my senior, so we don't get on very well. She's fine, but . . . I'm just her baby brother, you know?"

Hiccup smiled to herself. "I'm having trouble seeing anyone think of you as a baby."

"I'll take that as a compliment, considering the men of your village are twice my size."

"Well, they're too big, you know?" She shrugged. "You're the perfect size."

She seized up when she realized she'd said that out loud. "I mean, you're . . . You're . . ."

She shut her mouth and looked away, her entire face flushing with warmth. She couldn't trust her mouth not to make her into more of a fool. But Kiefer didn't seem to react.

"It would be hard to ride a Night Fury if I were that size, and a noble man who can't ride a noble steed is hardly worth the title." He laughed to himself. "You're also the perfect size for Night Fury flying."

Hiccup's wind whipped cheeks turned even warmer. "Most people think I'm too small."

Kiefer chuckled. "You're beautiful as you are."

Her heart threw itself against her ribs; for a moment she wasn't even sure she'd heard him right. She turned and stared at him. Did he really call her beautiful so offhandedly? As if it were obvious? "I'm . . . what?"

"I said you're perfectly fine the way you are," he said with a gentle smile.

Oh. So she had misunderstood him; her thundering heart fell with disappointment.

"You're smart, and you care about both humans and dragons. That's what's important. To us, anyway. If your village can't see that, you'd be welcome at the Mesa."

She leaned back as her heart returned to her. That thought was so tempting, but she couldn't just leave Berk, could she? If she were marrying, that would be one thing, but to just up and leave? No, she was the Dragon Master. She had responsibilities.

Although . . .

Astrid could take over. She could handle the twins better than Hiccup could, and Stoick was right when he said Hiccup had no interest in being chief. Mesa del Cadre would allow her to concentrate on inventions and dragons. And _oh_ , the inventions and dragons!

She could only imagine what she could learn. Not only did they have so much dragon knowledge, they had craftsmen who had figured out how to trap Zippleback gas. She'd tried to make such a thing in case Alvin attacked again, but the gas always escaped. How'd they done it?

"Could I learn how you make those lamps?" A wistful smile crossed her face.

"Sure, just attend a dissertation at the college of mechanical philosophy. I'm sure the philosophers would enjoy explaining. Or maybe it would be the college of alchemical philosophy? I don't really know, it's not really my area. Though you could follow it up with an afternoon instruction at the dragon conservatory, dinner at the cafe, wash off in the Great Baths and finish the evening at the villa . . ."

"Sounds nice."

She imagined a stone amphitheater rather like a significantly larger dragon arena, full of people looking to learn about inventing or dragons. Then enjoying a pie at an outdoor cliffside balcony overlooking a sunny sea, and finally she imagined a place like Long Shale Cove with waterfalls and pools to form the baths.

Her mind returned to her own bath, earlier that day. "How do you get water to the baths? Is it fed by a stream?"

"No, it's mechanical. You can see the water screws climbing the walls of the Mesa, drawing from the river into the city. The Great Baths are these massive, three-tiered marble pools, with clear, warm water falling in from the towers. It's bayside, but just inland and it services everyone in the city, plebeian and patrician alike."

Towers? They kept their water in towers? That made so much sense! Have someone strong, like a dragon, transport buckets of water up to it. Then you just uncork a hole in the bottom of it and let the water flow into the building, then cork it back up when you're done. She wouldn't have to carry buckets around anymore. It would be fairly simple to make a large barrel, she could even imagine how she could redesign the bathhouse to accommodate it. She wished she could make a sketch.

"That sounds pretty amazing. But what are water screws?"

"It's just big screws that draw up water." He looked at her blank expression. "Screws. You know, the metal spirals. Athena's name, you don't have screws?"

Although, embarrassment weighed down her chest she still sought to find something like what he said. She looked at her prosthetic. "I have a spring in my leg, that's a metal spiral."

He smiled. "You'll have to come down and find out."

In the distance a green ribbon appeared high in the air. In a matter of a seconds in swept over and the entire sky became bathed in bands of purple, pink and green. Kiefer stared around him, wide eyed and gaping. Finally he looked back at Hiccup and grinned. "This is amazing."

She looked up at Aurvandil's Fire with him and smiled.


End file.
